


Until Dawn: Seeking Hope

by AssassinMasterEzio91



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Break Up, Character Development, Developing Relationship, F/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-02 05:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 68,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16780246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AssassinMasterEzio91/pseuds/AssassinMasterEzio91
Summary: When her sister and best friend disappear in a freak accident, Hannah Washington isn't sure about going back with her brother Josh to their family lodge for another get together with their friends. But in the end, she decides to go, unaware that she is about to find a sinister plot, and several life changing events that will shake everything for her.





	1. Prologue

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Prologue  
**

The snow billowed around the mountain, the moon was high, and the night was dark. Standing defiant against the elements was the large building known locally as the Washington Lodge, property of the Washington family. Its lights shone bright. Outside the lodge, a mysterious stranger, clad in dark clothing stood. He clutched a machete tightly in his hand. Inside the lodge were ten teenagers, all within the age range of seventeen to nineteen.

The majority of said teens were in the dining room, two of them passed out drunk. The others were all talking quietly amongst themselves, except for one of the girls, who was standing separate from the others.

Three of the occupants of the lodge were the children of the Washington family. The eldest of those was nineteen-year-old Joshua Washington, known as Josh to his friends. He and his two sisters all had dark chocolate-brown hair and caramel complexions. Unlike his eighteen-year-old sisters, who were twins, Josh had green eyes. The Washington sisters, meanwhile, had dark brown eyes.

The girl standing separate from the others was looking out the window into the snowy night. This girl was eighteen, had fair skin, and medium-long blonde hair, which she tied in a classic bun style at the back, leaving a few locks framing her face. She also had hazel eyes. This girl was called Samantha Giddings, also known as Sam, and she was in a relationship with Josh Washington. The two had begun dating not long ago, but had grown very close very quickly. Other than his sisters, Sam seemed to be the only girl that truly understood him.

The remainder of the friends were all gathering together, further along the room, talking amongst themselves. One of the Washington sisters, Hannah, was with them. Her long hair came down past her shoulders and she wore onyx-black rectangular glasses. She also wore a heart-shaped locket, which was known to contain a picture of her and her twin sister, Beth. Apart from her longer hair and glasses, Hannah was the perfect image of Beth.

However, Beth was nowhere around right now, while Josh was one of the two boys passed out drunk, the other being his best friend; eighteen-year-old Christopher 'Chris' Hartley, a man with fair skin, short, dirty blonde hair worn in a faux-hawk style, and also wore a pair of grey rectangular glasses.

One person in the group of friends, a girl of seventeen with green eyes, beige blonde hair in small pigtails, and a bisque complexion, who was named Jessica 'Jess' Riley, was placing a note on the table where it could be found by its intended recipient. It was two in the morning and the group of teens had been partying and enjoying themselves and some of them, quite giddy from the drinking, had decided to play a prank on Beth Washington.

The basis of the prank was Beth's crush on another member of the group; eighteen-year-old Michael 'Mike' Munroe, a muscular young man with short, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. This raised some issues and especially angered Mike's girlfriend; Emily Davis, an eighteen-year-old Asian-American woman with above-shoulder length black hair and light brown eyes, an olive complexion, and a small birthmark above her right eyebrow. It had been Jessica who had come up with the prank, as a means to get revenge, which involved having Beth find the note, apparently from Mike, luring her to one of the bedrooms where they would trick her into an embarrassing situation that they would get on camera.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you actually did this." Emily remarked to Jessica, her voice shaking with laughter.

Jessica waved a hand, pointing out Sam across the room and saying, "Shh...Shh...Shh." Sam wasn't in on the prank. If she knew what they were going to do to her friend, she'd ruin everything.

Emily just smirked and Hannah shook her head.

"Don't you guys think this is a bit cruel?" she said, nervously. "W-what if she flips out and does something crazy when she learns the truth?"

The others turned to her, joined by two others; a boy and a girl, both seventeen. The first was a boy named Matthew Taylor, known as Matt to his friends. He was an African-American male with short black hair and brown eyes. The girl was Ashley Brown, a young Caucasian woman with medium length auburn hair and green eyes.

Jessica shook her head. "Oh come on, she deserves it."

Hannah shook her head, pleading with them and looking panicked. "Please, put yourself in her position and think about how you'd feel. It's not her fault that she has a huge crush on Mike-"

"Beth's been making moves on him." Jess shot back, shaking her head. "I'm just looking out for my girl Em."

"W-well...I guess that's...okay..." Hannah trailed off, but agreed with them against her will.

Hannah was the shy one in the group. She had trouble coming out of her shell and speaking up for herself and her friends, especially when her opinions were outnumbered and overshadowed by others' like they were now. She would usually look nervous and panic inside and stammer, stumbling over her words in these situations. But it was even worse than usual now, since it was her sister that was going to get pranked and Hannah cared about her family above all else.

Hannah looked over at Josh and considered waking her brother up in order to help her, but when she saw the empty bottles of alcohol next to him, she knew that he was down for the count. She was on her own for this situation.

Jess grinned to Emily before they all began leaving the room. As they walked, Emily spoke up again.

"Just because he's Class Prez doesn't mean he belongs to everyone. Mike is my man!" she exclaimed.

Mike sighed and shook his head. "Hey Em, I'm not anybody's man."

"Whatever you say, darling."

It was then that they all hurried out, heading up to the guest room where their little prank was to take place. Shaking her head, Hannah went in a different direction, hoping to find and warn her sister.

"Beth!" she called out, desperate to find her before it was too late.

* * *

Back in the dining room, Sam was looking out the window at the snow. She bit her lip and thought, 'Wow, it's really coming down out there... Huh? What the…?'

Her thoughts were cut off as she spotted something outside. It looked like a person, standing out in the snow. The figure turned and left immediately but Sam saw them and turned quickly, calling out to her boyfriend.

"Hey...did you see that?" she queried. "Your dad said it would just be us this weekend...Josh?"

No response. She approached her boyfriend and tried to shake him awake, but to no avail. She then spotted the beer bottle next to him, amongst others. She picked it up and raised an eyebrow.

"Jeez, Josh." she laughed. "Once again, you've outdone us all. Too bad, since I was hoping that we could have some 'alone time' tonight."

Shaking her head, she looked around, trying to find the others. It was then that she saw the note on the table and checked it. It was signed by Mike and seemed to be inviting Beth up to the guest room. The note's content was somewhat sexual and Sam sighed.

"Oh my God, what did Beth get herself into now?" She shook her head, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the guest room, everyone was getting into their hiding places. Ashley hid behind a partition. Matt was in the closet, keeping the door opened enough to film the incident. Ashley was trying to stifle her giggles, as were Jess and Emily as they hid under the bed. Mike stood by the bed, waiting for Beth. Emily and Jessica were still giggling when Emily heard the movement and nudged Jess.

"Oop!...She's here! Shh!" she whispered.

The door opened and Beth entered. Immediately noticeable in terms of difference of appearance between her and her twin sister was the fact that her hair came to just below her chin with bangs framing her face and she didn't wear any glasses.

"Mike?" she said, curiously. "It's Beth."

Mike smiled as he replied, "Hey, Beth."

Beth stepped fully into the room, closing the door and smiling.

"So...I got your note..."

"Glad you could make it." he said, suave and charming. "Maybe we should start with a little, you know, making out, and see where it goes from there."

Beth bit her lip. She felt a little suspicious. This seemed almost too perfect of an opportunity for her. But feeling like this was her chance, that she might finally get Mike's attention, she pushed her worries aside. As a result, she reacted eagerly, pulling off her sweater, revealing her recent black butterfly tattoo, located on her upper right arm.

Mike's eyes widened and he grinned. "Ohhhhh hell, yeah."

Jess couldn't help but burst into giggles as she let out a strangled whisper. "Oh my God! She's taking her shirt off!"

"What?" Beth gasped, hearing her and then seeing Jess and Emily. "Oh my God!"

The others burst out of their hiding places at that time, including Matt with his camera.

"Matt?! What are you guys doing here?!" Beth gasped in horror and anger.

She was stuck, her shame caught for all her friends to see. And even worse, it was being filmed. She pulled her sweater back on, her face burning with shame and anger. She couldn't believe that her friends would stoop this low for a prank.

Mike began trying to save face. "Uh, I'm sorry, Beth. This all got out of hand, but..."

At that moment, Hannah burst into the room, realizing in dismay that she had been too late.

She turned quickly to Beth and spoke in a worried voice. "Oh my God. Beth, are you alright? I tried to get here before you did to warn you, but-"

But Beth was too angry to even listen to her sister. "No, I'm not alright! I can't believe that they would pull something like this. This is going too far!" She turned and ran from the room, not stopping.

"I...I can't believe that you'd do this to my sister." Hannah sadly told the others.

"Uh...damn." Mike muttered, shamefully. The others all shared a look.

Hannah then turned to the others and glared. "You guys are jerks, you know that?" Seeing her sister hurt like that, she had lost her usual shyness for a moment and had firmly spoken out against them.

She then turned and ran after her sister, yelling, "BETH!"

She only arrived in time to see and hear Beth exit by the front door.

* * *

Sam was still down in the dining room and looked up at that point and spotted movement outside. She was startled, wondering if it was the same figure as before. She reacted at once, rushing out the door and calling out to the others.

"Guys, there's someone outside!" she called out, before noticing them all heading outside, too. "What the hell…?"

She hurried to pull on her winter coat, hearing the others calling Beth's name. Hannah was calling her sister's name out in desperation. Sam burst out after them, shoving Matt out of the way as she did so.

"What's going on?" she demanded, looking around at the others. "Where's she going?"

Jess shook her head dismissively. "Ugh, it's fine. She just can't take a joke."

Sam was very confused, so Hannah quickly explained what had happened. Sam was not happy with what she heard.

In a similar tone as Jess, Emily called out into the woods, "It was just a prank, Beth!"

Sam glared, looking carefully at them. She wanted to hear what they had to say for themselves. "What did you do?!"

"We were just messing around, Sam... It wasn't serious." Mike tried to explain.

"You JERKS!" Sam yelled. She rarely got this angry, but she was closer to Beth and Hannah than anyone else there, due to her connection with Josh, and she took it personally whenever they had been wronged.

"I'm going after my sister." Hannah decided out loud.

But Sam knew how sensitive Hannah could be and didn't trust her alone in the dark. "No, Hannah. I'll go after her and bring her back. She just needed to blow off some steam. You stay here."

Being Hannah's closest friend, she trusted Sam and let her go.

With that, Sam turned and ran off into the woods after Beth, calling out to her.

"So..." Mike began, awkwardly. "Should we go after her?"

Hannah shook her head, standing up for her sister. "You know, I think you're the LAST person that she wants to see right now, Mike."

Hannah and the others turned and made their way back inside. Hannah just prayed that Sam would be able to find Beth and bring her back.

* * *

Stumbling through the snow, Sam grit her teeth, looking around for her friend.

"Oh, shit!" she muttered. "Dammit, Beth! Where are you?"

She stumbled onward, stopping when she found a fork in the path. Looking around, there were footprints on one path and a shadow on the other. Acting on instinct, she followed the footprints, nearly running into a herd of dear, crying out. Still, she stumbled on, frantic, and trying to find her friend. It was getting darker and she soon had to pull out her phone and use its light feature to find her way.

'Shit...shit, this is messed up. What is...?' she thought, frantically.

She stopped when she spotted a strange object on the ground. It looked like an old Native American totem. Picking it up, she looked at it, turning it over to find a strange butterfly design, black in color. Suddenly, her vision was overwhelmed with a strange sight, a sight of her falling down a cliff and landing badly, looking disturbingly dead. And next to her was Beth, in the same state. She dropped the totem at once.

'What the fuck was that...?'

Shaking her head and trying to purge the disturbing sight from her mind, she hurried onward. She hadn't gone more than a few paces when a burst of flames above and to her left startled her. But then she could hear someone groaning.

She reacted at once. Rushing forwards, she found Beth pacing in the snow, looking mad.

"Hello?" Beth replied, looking up in shock.

"Beth!" Sam cried out, seeing that her friend wasn't wearing a coat. "Oh my God, you must be freezing. Here, take my coat."

Beth pulled it on as she remained angry as she shook her head.

"I can't believe them. They took advantage of me! I'm such an idiot for falling for this." she vented.

"I understand how you feel. I agree that they went too far." Sam sympathized. "Come on, let's head back and set things straight."

They were about to move when suddenly, they heard a terrifying screech.

"Sam…?"

The girl just shook her head. "Beth…?"

Beth bit her lip, terrified. The screech sounded again and they turned and ran as fast as they could, which was no easy task, due to the snow. Running in a blind panic, they made it to an old bridge. Crossing the bridge, Beth fell. Crying out, Sam turned to help her up, unaware that, at that moment, her phone fell from her pocket, falling under the floorboards of the bridge. They continued onward, both wanting to find safety, but ended up trapped as they reached a dead end: a cliff.

"Oh Jesus Christ!" Beth gasped.

Sam let out choked gasps as she and Beth clung to each other, moving backwards until they couldn't go any further, due to the edge of the cliff. They could hear the screeching getting closer.

"No... Shit, no, get back!" Sam cried out. "Fuck, no... ARGH!"

She cried out as they suddenly lost their footing and fell. They now were stuck, Sam hanging onto a branch protruding from the ledge, holding Beth's hand with her other hand.

A burst of flame suddenly lit up the night above them. Sam looked up in horror as a strange masked figure appeared above them and, after a brief pause, reached out towards them.

Sam grit her teeth. She could feel Beth's hand slipping through her own, but she couldn't abandon her friend and seeing this figure wasn't helping her feel any better. It only terrorized her more and, unable to hold on anymore, she let go. The last thing she knew was the pain of slamming against the ground several times. She struck a particular rock and life was wiped from Sam's body.


	2. Chapter 1

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 1  
**

The bus drove slowly through the mountain road. The snow fell softly, lying heavily on the ground. It was late at night as Hannah Washington found herself to be the last passenger on the bus. She could hardly believe that it had been a whole year since the last visit. Now here she was, on her way for the annual get-together of her and her friends at the lodge. She was currently looking out the window, lost in thought with a saddened expression on her face as her mind cast back to that dreadful night.

'No one ever found Sam and Beth...and we're going back to the lodge now.' she thought to herself. 'Is this really the right thing to do?'

She lowered her gaze, recalling the last time that she had seen her sister and best friend, how they had vanished, the cruel prank played on Beth. She had tried to seek help throughout the year, encouraging Josh to do the same. Thinking about Josh, she sighed, wondering about him, why he had called them back up here. Pulling out her phone, she flicked through the messages from her brother before pressing a button on the phone to open one of them; showing a video of Josh.

"Hello, friends and fans." Josh greeted on the video before shaking his head. "Let's try that again." He stepped forwards and adjusted the camera before stepping back into shot.

Smiling widely, he spoke again. "Hello, friends and fans. It is beyond awesome to have to have all you guys back this year."

Hannah bit her lip, watching carefully. Something about Josh's attitude in the video made her feel worried for him.

"First of all, I've gotta say that I am super excited to welcome back all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway." he explained, before doing a mock cheer, similar to a live audience in a TV show.

Hannah continued to watch, glancing up to check where she was. She wasn't sure how Josh had been coping throughout the year. He had been saying that he was fine, but it always felt, to her, that he was hiding something. Nobody knew her brother better than she did, so whenever she felt that something was off with him, it made her feel concerned.

'It also doesn't help that Chris and I were the only ones to really stay in touch with Josh afterwards.' she reflected, sadly. 'But even then, my own brother... He's still hiding things, even from me.'

The video was still ongoing and she listened more. "So, um...let me just take a moment to address the 'elephant in the room', so to speak. I know you're probably all worried about me and I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back, after what happened last year."

He paused for a moment before smiling again and continuing. "I know that it would mean so much to Sam and Beth that we're all still together, thinking of them."

Hannah knew that, officially, Sam and Beth were still missing, but it was pretty obvious to all but the most optimistic that they were dead.

"I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share some moments we'll never forget." he explained. "So let's party like we're fucking porn stars, okay?" He laughed and the video ended.

Hannah smiled lightly and put her phone away. As she did so, she pondered, 'I tried to help Chris with Josh, but...I needed help myself, too. Mike actually...' She bit her lip, recalling how Mike had helped her during the difficult time since Beth and Sam's disappearance.

It was then that she noticed where she was and quickly grabbed all of her stuff before standing up and moving towards the front of the bus. She quickly spoke to the driver. "This is my stop here."

The driver nodded and stopped and Hannah disembarked from the bus. With a sigh, she looked around as the snow gently swirled around her.

Hannah knew that she had changed over the past year. She wondered if the traumatic events of that one night had anything to do with it. But she had changed, and in ways that some people were surprised by, especially her friends.

For example, she no longer wore her glasses, having switched to contacts around six months ago. Also, in memory of her sister, Hannah had gotten the same butterfly tattoo on her arm as Beth. There was a gust of cold wind and Hannah was grateful that she had dressed for the weather; in a pair of dark jeans, a white T-shirt under her black long sleeved top, a denim jacket, and black snow boots.

As the bus drove off, Hannah did not notice a black-clad figure who was wielding a machete, who stood on the other side of the road, watching her for a moment before turning and walking away. With the bus having driven away, Hannah prepared to make her way up to the cable car station, which would take her up the mountain, closer to the lodge. She knew that the others would be arriving, or were already here. As she began to take a step forwards, she heard a distinctive noise. It sounded like a twig snapping and she could swear that she heard heavy breathing.

"Hello?" she called out, looking around, worried. "Someone there?"

No response. The noises then stopped. Shaking her head and suddenly feeling paranoid, Hannah began to walk up the path, her boots crunching through the snow. It didn't take her long to reach the gate. She reached out a hand to open it, but stopped.

'Huh? What's this?' she wondered, spotting a note attached to the gate.

She picked it up and read it. "The gate is busted. Climb over. Chris."

She sighed and shook her head. "Since when? I thought it...ugh, never mind."

Looking around, she finally spotted a possible section of wall to her left that she could scale. She walked over and immediately began climbing, going as quickly as she could. She stopped for a moment, looking up and judging the distance. Taking the risk, she jumped up, grabbing the top edge of the wall. She pulled herself up with a grunt and once on top, deftly leapt down, bending her knees to absorb the impact. She straightened up, smiling once she was on the other side, and resumed her walk.

She glanced around again, sure that she had heard something again. She had a strange feeling that something or someone was watching her. She brushed the feeling off, however, stopping when she saw something else. Smiling, she squatted down, gently lifting up a small pile of nuts and holding out her hand with the nuts in them.

"Hey, cute little squirrel." she said, quietly. "C'mon, it's alright."

She stayed as still as possible until the squirrel came up and took the nuts from her hand before scampering off.

Straightening up, Hannah laughed softly. "Cutie."

As she prepared to walk again, Hannah smiled sadly. 'In climbing class, I started going after Sam. I didn't expect to get so...well, competent at it as quickly as I did. Sam would've loved that squirrel, too...'

Still smiling, she made her way up to the lower cable car station, looking for any sign of the others. The only other person that she knew for certain would be around here was most likely Chris. She looked around, however, and didn't see anybody.

"Chris? You here?" she called out to no reply.

She paused and spotted Chris's bag. "Your bag is here, so where are you?" She looked around, but he wasn't around.

She jokingly called out, "You're not IN the bag, are you?"

It was then that she spotted something else. Chris's bag had its front pouch unzipped, his phone was slightly hanging out, and the screen had just lit up, vibrating.

"What do we have here?" she wondered aloud, pondering briefly on her options at the moment.

"Maybe I shouldn't snoop around Chris's stuff." She zipped the bag up, closing the phone off, not looking at it.

Just as she straightened up, she heard footsteps and then the familiar voice of Chris.

"Hey, Hannah. You made it."

She turned and smiled when she saw him. "Hi, Chris."

Chris was dressed for the weather too, in a layered light blue jacket over a green commando-style sweater, a blue collared shirt and a white undershirt, and simple jeans. He paused briefly before grinning and going to pick up his bag.

"Hey, c'mon, got something to show you."

"What?"

"I'm not saying. You gotta come see." he replied with a soft laugh. "Gonna blow your mind."

Rolling her eyes and laughing, Hannah followed Chris.


	3. Chapter 2

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 2  
**

As they began walking around the back of the cable car station, Hannah's eyes were drawn to a defaced wanted poster of a criminal. She was shocked, it seemed that the criminal was supposed to live in the nearby area.

"Whoa, have you seen this?" she asked.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, maybe we'll get a visit from America's Most Wanted."

Sighing at his joke, she followed him around the back. As she did so, she noticed the route he was taking.

'Don't tell me he's found dad's shooting range.' Hannah wondered.

They then arrived and Chris revealed that what he had found was indeed her father's shooting range.

"Check it out, how long has this been here?" Chris commented.

Hannah stifled a laugh as she replied, "About ten years or so. I'm surprised it took you this long to find it."

Chris laughed a little himself as he picked up the rifle. "Well, your dad's living up to his rep, I guess. Does he seriously come here to go all Grizzly Adams on the targets?"

Hannah just sighed and rolled her eyes at how he was acting.

"Want a shot?"

Hannah shook her head. "No, you go ahead, Chris. Have fun."

She didn't want to admit that, despite everything that had changed over the past year, she still hated guns. She watched as Chris took aim with the rifle.

Taking careful aim, Chris made short work of shooting several of the sacks and a couple of bottles.

"See?" he remarked with a grin.

Hannah just laughed and in a faux southern accent replied, "Wow, nice shootin', Tex."

Also laughing, Chris smirked. "Alright, I'm bad."

"I'm gonna guess it's a wild case of beginner's luck." Hannah replied, snarkily.

Chris gladly took up the challenge. "Oh no, watch this." With that, he casually no-scoped a bottle.

Hannah shrugged before teasingly replying, "Well, anyone and their brother could hit a bottle that big, that close."

Chris laughed again and took aim one more time. He stopped for a moment, however, as he saw that one of the drums on which a bottle had been set now had a squirrel sitting on it, eating a small pile of nuts.

'Where did that little guy come from? Okay, that removes that target. No way am I even aiming that way.' he thought to himself. 'Doubly so with Hannah here, given how much of an animal lover she is. Almost as much as Sam was.'

So he instead aimed for the farthest sack and took the shot, striking it. Hannah smiled and applauded lightly as the squirrel ran off, unharmed.

"Hey, c'mon, there's our ride." she said as she spotted the cable car on its way down.

Chris turned to her. "But I've almost got the hang of this."

She shook her head. "C'mon Chris, the cable car, the others are likely waiting."

Chris sighed, but agreed, and together, they made their way back to the cable car station.

Arriving at the station, they found the door locked. Hannah quickly retrieved the key, however, and they entered and waited for the cable car to arrive. Once it did, they both got on and sat down. As the car began taking them up to their destination, Chris smiled.

"Just like going to the prom." he quipped. "Man, it's gonna be so weird seeing everyone again."

Hannah nodded with a sigh. "Tell me about it. Everything just came rushing back and...Josh seemed quite excited about the thought of us all doing something together here. I wonder if he..."

"Hey, no, he was seriously psyched for this, I can tell." Chris replied. "I haven't seen him this amped up in like...forever."

"Yeah..." Hannah replied, softly.

There was a pause as they rode in silence for a moment. Then Chris broke it.

"Hey, c'mon, we both know Josh better than anyone else." he reminded her.

Nodding slowly, Hannah bit her lip. "Say, how exactly did you and Josh meet? All these years, neither of you have never gone into detail."

Chris grinned, happy to oblige. "Alright, it was back in third grade. Josh sat at the back of the room, I sat at the front, neither of us had any idea that the other existed. But one day, the kid next to Josh started strap snapping the training bra of the girl in the seat in front. So he got moved down to the front and I got moved to the back."

Hannah raised an eyebrow before prompting, "And…?"

"And next to Josh. That's how we met and became friends to this day."

Hannah laughed. "A match made in heaven."

Chris shrugged. "If it weren't for the fact that Jeannie Simmons hit puberty, like, three years early and on that day decided to wear a low-cut shirt that showed off her training bra... I mean, who knows? You could be riding in this cable car alone right now. Or talking to some other person entirely. Boom, Butterfly Effect."

Hannah nodded slowly, suddenly seeing that Chris was trying to make a point. In regards to her earlier worries about her brother, it certainly helped her feel more at ease. Anything could happen and the best bet was to go with the flow and make the most of it.

* * *

Meanwhile, waiting by the upper cable car station, watching the snow that billowed through the night, was Jessica Riley. She now wore her hair in two dutch braids fastened with indigo hair-ties and was clad in a stone blue casual parka jacket, wearing under it a purple top over a plain ivory white undershirt and also wore plain denim jeans. She also had dark pink nail polish and wore a simple band on her finger.

She was sitting, simply passing time on her phone when she heard the cable car arriving and stood up, smiling as she muttered to herself, "Ah, excellent, more people. Time to play meet and greet."

She began walking towards the doors when suddenly, she heard a loud thump from them, making her gasp and leap back. It was then that she saw Chris and Hannah, leaning against the glass.

"Hey, Jess!"

She raised an eyebrow at their antics. "Um, are you guys having a really weird stroke or something?"

Hannah was the one who replied. "We're stuck in the here, the door won't open. Can you help us?"

Jess smiled softly and reached out to press the button on the door controls, opening the doors and allowing them both to stumble out.

"You guys..." she muttered.

Chris shook his head and began remarking playfully, "Oh thank God, any longer in there and I was afraid I was gonna have to chew my own leg off."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Gross, Chris."

He just laughed, as did Jess.

Jess, however, noticed something else. "Oh, Hannah, you…?" she gasped.

Hannah smirked. Jess had been one of the few people who hadn't really seen her over the past year. The lack of glasses and such certainly had been noticed. "Yeah, I know. A lot has changed for me, both inside and out."

Another thing that she had improved over time was her confidence. She wasn't afraid to speak up for herself or her friends, yet there were still some areas where she needed to work on that.

There was a brief pause, during which Chris noticed Jess holding a letter of sorts. His curiosity got the better of him and with a playful sound effect, he swiped the letter from her hand.

"Hey, Chris!" she cried out.

He just grinned as he read the note, stepping back out of her reach. "Well, what have we here? Oh my."

Hannah shook her head. "Chris, come on."

"It seems our dear Miss Jess has some major feelings for our dear class Prez, Mike." Chris remarked. "And what kind of sizzling erotica could Jess be dreaming up, I wonder?"

Jess crossed her arms and shook her head before replying, "Actually, Mike and I are together now, so there."

Chris raised an eyebrow at that. "Wow, drama..."

Jess shook her head, clearly having heard things like that so many times. "No, it's pretty clear cut, actually. Emily's out, I'm in, that's all. Now...my letter?"

Chris shrugged casually and handed it back before turning to Hannah (who had moved over to the railing by the cliff edge), smiling widely.

Hannah, however, was not smiling. She knew about Mike and Jess while getting to know Mike more over the past year. She was surprised at the man beneath the somewhat irresponsible exterior. She had begun to see what her sister had seen in him, what had drawn her to him, and Hannah was shocked to find herself starting to develop feelings for him, too. That was why she was disappointed when she felt those feelings but then realized that she was too late. By that time, he had already gotten together with Jess.

'Well, it stung, and it still does...' she reflected. 'I would've liked to see where things could've gone for the two us. I can see why Beth liked him so much. If only I had realized my feelings for him sooner. But if he and Jess are happy together...then I'll respect his choice.'

So it was that she resolved to bury her feelings. But here, being pretty much hit in the face with it, did little to help.

"Hannah?" Chris queried.

She stared up and quickly thought up an excuse. "Oh, I was just admiring the view. You know, we never really stop and take it all in like this."

Chris nodded in agreement as Hannah turned away from the ledge, nodding to Jess as she came level with her.

Finally, Chris turned to the girls. "We should really get going before we freeze out here."

Jess shook her head. "You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna wait here for a while, see if I catch any of the others."

"Waiting for Mike?" Chris teased, good-naturedly.

"What?" Jess gasped, before recovering and shaking her head. "Oh, you know, whoever."

Chris laughed and together, he and Hannah continued onwards up the path.


	4. Chapter 3

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 3  
**

Walking up the path that would lead them up to the lodge, having passed the main gate, were two figures, a male and a female. The male was carrying a lot of bags while the female walked by his side, shaking her head.

"Honestly, they couldn't have built the lodge right where the ski lift ends?" she said.

Matt rolled his eyes as he turned to his girlfriend, Emily. "I don't think it would have been as romantic."

Stifling a laugh at his quip, she gestured around. "And where's the bellboy when you need one?"

Matt laughed a little at this and they continued to walk, heading towards a covered wooden bridge that would take them across to the next part of the path.

Emily sighed and shook her head. "I'm getting chills..."

Matt raised an eyebrow at that, since they had both dressed up reasonably well for the weather. He was in gray track pants, a light cobalt-blue Letterman jacket over a light jean jacket, and a gray turtleneck.

Emily was wearing a white blouse underneath a ribbed dark gray turtleneck and a black leather jacket with fur trim. She also wore black jeans and snow boots with fur trim. She had black nail polish on, along with a few rings adorning her fingers.

"We're nearly there." he said, trying to sound reassuring.

Emily looked at him strangely before her eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, I mean...it's been so long since we were last here, and after what happened last time…"

Matt realized now what she meant and nodded. "Ah, yeah. I see... Well, hopefully we'll find some closure this time around."

Emily smiled lightly, hoping that he was right.

They had just reached the end of the bridge when suddenly, a figure leapt out and yelled at them. Matt nearly dropped the bags, half-crouching defensively. Emily leapt back, screaming. The figure began to laugh and they finally saw who it was. It was a familiar young man clad in a flannel jacket underneath a dark blue padded vest, a white tank top undershirt, and a pair of jeans.

"You guys..." he said, still laughing. "You should see your faces."

Emily was not impressed. "Michael!"

Shaking his head, Matt groaned. "Dude, I almost clocked you."

"C'mon guys, lighten up, we're in a spooky mountain forest, middle of the night, snow everywhere." Mike explained. "I'm just trying to get into the spirit of things."

Emily let out an exasperated sigh. "Spirit of things? Really?"

Mike groaned. "Oh, come on, Em. Don't be like this."

"Like what?" she queried, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Like that, right now." Mike replied. "The way you're always being."

Emily looked affronted by this statement. Matt bit his lip, pondering. Mike did have a point, Emily often acted this way towards other people.

Finally, he spoke up. "Look, Mike, I'm just gonna lay it out. Otherwise, this whole weekend's gonna suck ass for everyone. Um, this is super awkward and we all know it. Let's just, uh, acknowledge it now and move on. Okay? "

Emily shook her head. "Matt..."

"I hear you, man." Mike replied, calmly. "I get it. I don't wanna make this weird."

Matt nodded, relaxing. "Cool. So we're good?"

"All good."

There was a brief pause after this as they took a moment to relax.

Emily couldn't resist and jokingly queried, "You guys gonna make out now?"

Laughing, Mike responded in a mocking effeminate voice, "Oh my God, totally, we're so gonna make out!"

Laughing a bit more, he cleared his throat. "Uh...no." he replied in his normal voice. "Seriously, I'm gonna go check on the cable car back down the trail."

So after saying farewell to them, Mike walked back down the trail. Matt prepared to continue up the trail to the lodge. Emily glanced back for a moment and bit her lip.

"Ugh, typical of him." she muttered, sounding annoyed.

"Huh?"

She turned to Matt. "Um, nothing. Never mind, come on."

With that, they continued onwards. Matt, of course, carrying the bags as they made their way further up the trail, closer to the lodge.

* * *

The small wooden platform jutting out from the trail that formed the observation deck was occupied by just one person. That figure was dressed warmly in a striped reddish-pink beanie, a light bluish-gray hoodie worn over a long-sleeved red shirt, blue jean shorts, and dark leggings finished the outfit. Additionally, she wore a pair of red-striped fingerless gloves, a green rectangular ring on her right middle finger, and a silver locket.

"Whoa..." the girl, who was, in fact, Ashley, whispered to herself as she straightened up a little.

Ashley was busy checking out the scenery through the tourist binoculars set up on the deck. Usually, people had to pay to use things like this, but this one was free. She resumed her observations through the binoculars when she spotted something.

"Whoa!" she cried. 'What the fuck was that?'

She was surprised, since she had just spotted something through the binoculars: a strange shadowy shape, but it moved quickly and was gone from her sight before a distorted, glaring face looked right back at her through the lenses.

She bit her lip and peered back through the binoculars when Matt leapt up, practically in front of her, causing her to see his face, but magnified. She screamed and leapt back as he laughed.

"Whoa..."

She shook her head. "God... Oh my God, Matt."

He shook his head, approaching her as she put a hand to her chest, trying to calm her thumping heart. It did not help that Emily was coming up behind Matt, laughing her head off.

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry, Ashley." he said. "I didn't mean to scare you. Well, not 'scare you' scare, just, give you a little jump."

She lightly hit his chest as she spoke through gritted teeth. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh..."

As she began calming down, however, what Matt said next panicked her again.

"So what are you looking at? Can I see?" he asked, gesturing to the binoculars.

Ashley froze, a sudden debate springing in her mind. Should she let them see? She couldn't be sure that she actually saw what she thought she saw. But even so, the thought of anyone else seeing it was scary.

In the end, she made up her mind. "Um, it's busted, actually. You can't...really see anything."

Matt quirked an eyebrow at that. "Huh. For real, c'mon, I bet I could find, like, a cool bear chowing down on a fox or something."

Ashley persisted. "No, seriously, Matt. Don't strain your eyes. I'm getting a headache just trying to see through it there."

Matt seemed perplexed by this, but then shrugged and accepted before returning to pick up the bags and resuming his journey up the trail. Emily followed, the two of them inviting Ashley to join them.

While their backs were turned, Ashley sneaked a glance through the binoculars, confirming that whatever she saw wasn't there anymore, before following Matt and Emily up to the lodge. Whatever she had seen, or thought that she saw, it did not look natural.

* * *

Standing by the door to the lodge, shifting his weight, sometimes stamping his feet to stay warm, Josh Washington grinned.

'Can't wait. They'll be here soon... They're gonna love this.' he thought to himself with a grin. 'This will be a trip to remember. I'll make sure of that!'

It was then that he spotted the first arrivals at the gate down at the bottom of the path. He hurried down to meet them.

"Yo, Matt, Emily, Ash, good to see you." he greeted as he met them halfway.

They exchanged greetings and Josh grinned. They were just waiting for the rest of them now.

"Alright, so...is everybody coming?" Emily asked.

The emphasis she put on 'everybody' was not lost on Josh, but he kept his cheerful face on. As such, his reply was light. "Yeah, they should be here soon, then we can get inside."

Emily just nodded. "Good, it's freezing out here. Can't wait to get inside and warm up."

Josh shared a look with Ashley and Matt. There certainly wouldn't be any argument from them about that, at least.

* * *

Jess sighed as she continued to wait by the upper cable car station. After absently sitting, twiddling her thumbs for a moment, she decided to pass the time with her book. She picked it up and began to read. She hadn't read more than half a page when a snowball suddenly impacted on the wall next to her. She let out a startled yelp.

"You did not just do that." she remarked.

Mike laughed and put on a mock southern accent. "Surrender and come out with your hands where I can see them. We got you surrounded."

He bent down to form a snowball and Jess, thinking quickly, grabbed an already prepared snowball from the nearby railing. She made her way towards the steps leading down to the small clearing.

"Oh, but what am I, a supple young rebel girl to do...other than surrender to the strapping military commander come to take me into custody?" she replied in a similar accent.

Mike smirked and stepped forwards. She took her chance to throw the snowball, hitting him and making him yell out, startled.

"Gotcha!" she cried, darting for cover at a nearby picnic table.

Mike shook his head, throwing the snowball he held. "Nice try!"

"Oh, snap!" Jess ducked just in time to dodge it. They both took cover, grabbing fresh snowballs.

Mike laughed and called out, teasingly, "Where are you hiding, little chickadee?"

Jess grinned. "You're mine, Mike!"

She leapt out and threw her snowball, striking Mike again. Laughing, she moved, dodging again and getting another snowball. Mike was hiding behind a tree. Nearby was a bird. She paused for a moment. She knew that if she threw a snowball at the bird, it would startle Mike out of his hiding place.

'But then I won't have a snowball to use on him. Plus, the poor bird, it doesn't deserve that.' she reflected.

So she abstained, allowing the bird to fly away, and when Mike leapt out, she dodged the snowball that he threw and threw her own, striking him again.

"I'm gonna get you."

Jess shook her head, trying to form another snowball, but then she was tackled and fell on her back with Mike kneeling above her, grinning.

"You're done!" he called out with a laugh. "Done city!"

Laughing in response, Jess replied, "Wow! So, did I go down?"

Mike raised an eyebrow. "I think you did well enough, Miss Jessica, the snowball queen."

"Okay, that sounds vaguely dirty." she commented.

They both laughed and then, after a slightly longer pause, they kissed deeply.

As they parted, Jess gasped. "Whoa, save some for later, buddy."

Mike just grinned. "Endless reserves."

She nodded before replying, "We should probably get going, the others are waiting. Or we could just stay out here."

"I would gladly stay out here, provided I was making out with you the whole time." Mike said, calmly, as he helped her up.

"Just making out?" Jess queried.

Mike shrugged and replied jokingly, "Quote, unquote."

Rolling her eyes, Jess added, "We'd probably die somewhere between those quotes."

Together, they proceeded onwards, finally heading up to the lodge to join the others.

* * *

Walking up the hill, approaching the gate that would finally lead them to the path up to the lodge, Hannah looked around.

"Apart from Jess, I haven't seen any of the others." she remarked. "Have you?"

Chris shrugged. "I think I saw Mike sneaking by us, but...I don't know. Nobody else, though."

Hannah nodded slowly. "Hmm, maybe they're all up ahead."

"Guess we'll find out soon."

Sure enough, at the moment, they reached the gate and, with Chris opening it, they stepped through. Now the lodge was in sight and, as they began walking up the path, they both smiled. They could see the others all waiting for them, with Josh coming to greet them.


	5. Chapter 4

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 4  
**

Now standing just outside the lodge, along with Hannah, Chris fought to catch his breath from the climb. They weren't alone, either. They had been met outside the lodge Josh himself.

"Boy, every time I climb this mountain, it feels bigger." Chris remarked."

"Oh yeah?" Josh queried, raising an eyebrow. "It feels the same to me."

Like the others, Josh was dressed up against the cold weather in a pair of jeans, a knit wool beanie, black boots, and a sleeveless puffer jacket. Under said jacket, he was wearing a dark brown shirt underneath a flat-collared blue and white plaid-styled unbuttoned shirt.

Chris laughed at Josh's comment and replied, "C'mon, you practically grew up here, it probably feels like it's shrinking."

"Maybe." Josh conceded with a wry laugh.

He nodded in greeting to Hannah, who smiled back, and the trio made their way further up, heading towards the front steps of the lodge. As they walked, Chris pulled out his phone and shook his head.

"Man, when are you gonna get some cell towers installed up here? I'm getting withdrawals already."

Josh smirked and joked, "You got a spare million lying around and I'll fix you right up."

Laughing, Chris pretended to pat down his pockets. "Funny you should say that... Ah, I think I left it in my other jacket."

"Oops." Josh quipped, playing along.

They walked up to the foot of the lodge. Ashley was already there, seated on the steps, and Matt stood nearby, along with Emily.

"Hey, gang." Josh greeted, enthusiastically. "You guys get up here okay?"

Matt grinned, stepping forward a little. "Could've done with some bellboys." he remarked, flippantly. "But hey, can't get everything."

Ashley nodded as she too spoke up. "Yeah, it was pretty easy. A little creepy, though... I mean, it's just really weird being back here."

They all nodded and Matt and Hannah moved a little further down the path, with Hannah going as far as the gate and leaning on it. Ashley remained seated on the stairs, Emily opting to remain where she was, while Chris and Josh approached the door, out of range of everyone's hearing. Heavy breathing filtered through the trees as they were watched.

Chris bounded up the last few steps to join Josh on the front porch. "Yo, yo, yo!" he cried out, excitedly. "Are we gonna get things moving up here or what?"

"Yeah, man!" Josh replied, just as enthusiastic.

There was, however, a slight edge to his voice that Chris noticed. He began to feel concerned.

"Hey...you doin' alright? I mean, it must be really tough without Beth and S-"

"Stop."

Silently cursing himself, Chris tried to recover. "I just meant that-"

"No, I know what you meant." Josh said, reassuringly. "You know, seriously, I'm over it, and I just want us to have a really good time, you know? Like we always used to."

Chris nodded, feeling relieved, and waited as Josh attempted to unlock the door.

"Dammit, this freaking thing." he muttered, angrily.

Chris stepped forwards, raising an eyebrow. "It's iced?"

"What else?"

Thinking for a moment, Chris then made a suggestion. "Maybe there's another way in."

Josh shrugged and stated, "There are a million ways in, they're just all locked."

"There's gotta be, like, a window around that we can, like, get open, or something." Chris said in reply, not to be discouraged.

Josh turned to look at him, incredulous. "Wait a second, are you saying that we should break in?"

Chris shook his head, stammering slightly. "I don't think it's technically breaking in if you own the place, right?"

"Hey, not if I don't report you." Josh replied, laughing at Chris' unease to show he was joking before speaking again. "Lead the way, Cochise."

Chris just sighed and turned, starting to head down the steps. On the way down, he stopped and turned to Ashley, biting his lip as his heart suddenly sped up. He couldn't deny that she looked nice, even all bundled up against the cold..

"Hey, Ash..." he greeted, somewhat awkwardly.

She smiled and returned his greeting. "Hi, Chris."

He thought briefly before replying, "So...how are you doing?"

"Mm...good." she replied, with a slight shrug. "But a little cold. I think I could use some time curled up by the fire."

Chris smiled gently at that. "Yeah, that does sound pretty nice."

She also smiled at that and Chris stepped down. Seeing his expression, Josh nodded and waited while Chris went to talk to Matt. It had, after all, been a whole year since the two of them had seen each other.

"Matt! Been a while!" Chris greeted, before saying jokingly, "You look all weird without your helmet and jersey."

Matt shrugged, replying blandly, "Yeah, been a tough one. Good to see you."

This left Chris a little uncomfortable. Out of all the friends in the group, Matt was the one he had the hardest time talking to. Nevertheless, he did his best to be friendly.

"So, how's it hangin'?"

Thankfully, Matt brightened up a little at that. "Pretty good, man. Can't complain. You?"

Shrugging and smiling, Chris answered, "Oh, you know, same ol', same ol'."

Matt nodded and, seeing Hannah trying to get his attention, Chris excused himself and walked over to her.

Once he reached her, Hannah asked him suddenly, "So, you seen Ash yet?"

"Umm, yeah?" he replied, taken aback.

Nodding, Hannah continued. "Cool, cool... How's, uh, how's she doing?"

Her tone and even the questions themselves confused Chris. "She's...fine, why?"

"Oh, no reason." Hannah replied, turning so that Chris couldn't see the knowing smile on her face.

Shrugging at this, Chris turned back and went to join Josh again. They began to walk along the path at the side of the lodge, looking to go around it and see if they could find a way in. Once out of earshot of the others, however, Josh turned to Chris, grinning.

"Ashley was looking pretty hot today, right?" he teased his friend. "She's like a 'sleeper hit' kinda gal, you know?"

Chris paused, startled, and a little uneasy. Josh's next comment made him even more so.

"Now I just wanna rip that parka right off her and...make some snow angels, right?"

"H-hey, cut it out, man-" Chris protested, a little startled.

Josh just laughed and held up his hands. "I mean, if you don't wanna bang her, maybe...Mike will take up the case."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "W-Will you back off already?"

Josh simply laughed, shaking his head and gently eased Chris. "Relax, man. I'm just...checking to see if there's some blood flowin' down there."

Chris shook his head, exasperated. "Yeah..."

There was a brief pause before Josh sighed. He decided that he had to emphasize his point, while doing what he could to boost his best friend's confidence.

"Listen, dude. Look around you. Look at these beautiful mountains. Do you see any parents? I mean, can you imagine a more perfect, ripe scenario, just dripping with erotic possibilities?" he stated, announcing, "You and Ashley, alone at last... You've laid all the groundwork, you've been a perfect gentleman. Now you come in for the kill!"

Chris smiled lightly and sighed. "Maybe you're right."

Josh grinned and added, "You are a hunter, bro. No fear, no mercy, I mean, she won't even know what hit her."

They both laughed at that.

"Alright, alright, I got it. Jeez." Chris replied, holding up a hand.

Satisfied, Josh nodded and together, they resumed their search. As they did so, Josh queried, "So how are we planning on breaking into my parents' lodge, bud?"

Chris grimaced lightly. "Wait, I didn't say that I had a plan-"

"You sounded like you had a plan." Josh replied, before joking, "You better deliver, Cochise, or else you got four lovely ladies who are gonna be freezing their buns off and last time I checked, that's not a good way to get laid."

"Well, shoot. Nobody likes cold buns." Chris shot back.

Both boys laughed as they continued.

As they walked, Chris stopped as he noticed something. At the side of the lodge was a holder for a fire axe, but the glass was broken and the axe, disturbingly, was missing.

"Hmm..." Chris muttered, biting his lip.

Josh nodded. "Don't worry about that, it's been missing for ages."

Chris nodded, reassured, and then, just to his right, he saw it, just what he needed. There was a window that he could see was unlocked and nearby was a cabinet that could be moved underneath the window with a bit of elbow grease. He gestured to the cabinet, drawing Josh's attention, and he moved to shove it.

Josh went to the other end and took hold. "Well, well, well, we got ourselves a thinker. Nice one."

Working together, they moved the cabinet beneath the window. Chris then climbed up and nearly overbalanced.

"Whoa..." he muttered, but managed to right himself.

Nodding to Josh, he pulled the window open. Looking through, he could see that it led to the garage. He began to climb through the window, only to tumble unceremoniously, landing on the floor with a yelp. Groaning, he lay there as Josh climbed the cabinet quickly and held onto the windowsill, looking down.

"Ugh, I'm okay." Chris replied quickly. "I should have paid more attention in climbing class..."

Josh looked a little perplexed by that. "Uh...you mean 'gym'?"

Standing up, Chris nodded. "Yeah, you know, with the climbing up the rope-"

His words were cut short when, with a loud pop, the light bulb smashed, plunging the room into darkness. Chris looked around, startled, Josh was surprised, too.

"Whoa!" he gasped.

Suddenly feeling awkward, Chris looked up to Josh. "Uh, did I do that?"

"I don't...I don't think so." Josh replied, before he pulled out and threw a lighter to Chris. "Here, use this."

Chris caught it and ignited it, providing him with at least some light to see by. Looking at the lighter, Josh's eyes widened and he grinned.

"Whoa, Chris, I just got an awesome idea." he said.

"Yeah?"

"Totally."

Chris nodded. "Well, what is it?"

Josh began explaining. "Okay. So I am PRETTY sure that I've got deodorant in one of the bathrooms. You could use THAT with the LIGHTER..."

"I don't...I don't follow." Chris replied, shaking his head. "How's a stick of deodorant gonna help?"

Josh looked amused as he replied, "Spray on, it's a can."

Realization dawned on Chris. "Oh yeah, now I gotcha."

"Flamethrower."

Chris grinned. "Just like we do with the lil' army dudes."

Josh grinned as he too recalled the fun that they had, torching the plastic army men.

"Yup, the ones we melted." he said with a grin. "Just point the spray-can at the lighter then...FWOOSH."

"Bye-bye frozen lock."

"Bingo. Alright, so you got this." Josh remarked, glancing back to the front of the lodge. "I'm gonna go sort something out. You up for hunting around in the dark a little bit?"

Chris sighed but shrugged. "Nope, but I'll do it."

"Godspeed, pilgrim." Josh shot back with a John Wayne impression.

Josh then jumped down from the cabinet, out of sight, leaving Chris to wander the dark alone.

Chris began making his way through the lodge, looking around, remembering so many things from the previous trips there. Some things stood out, catching his eye. Namely, a newspaper fragment about an arrested convict with a grudge against Josh's parents. He couldn't deny that worried him, especially in light of recent findings, such as the wanted poster and missing axe. This was despite Josh's assurances.

'Well, what do we have here, huh?' he thought to himself, but stopped.

He smiled wistfully as, on his way up to the main floor, he spotted a family portrait, showing all of the Washingtons, including Hannah and Beth. Just then, he jumped as he heard a strange noise.

"Huh? What the hell was that?" he muttered.

Anxiously, he continued onwards, opening the door and entering the main part of the house. In the main hall, he continued to look around. He stopped by the front door, glancing out the small window. He could see Hannah and Ashley standing just outside, talking to each other. Smirking at the chance for a small prank, he ducked out of sight.

Hannah and Ashley stood, talking, when suddenly, from inside...

"WOOOooOOooooOOO!"

They both jumped, but immediately recovered, recognizing the voice.

"Hi, Chris. Very funny." Hannah remarked at once, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

Chris let out a small groan. "How did you know it was me?"

Hannah just pointed out. "Shouldn't you be, like, getting the lock open or something?"

"On it!"

With that, Chris resumed his journey through the house. It was clear that the power was gone in the whole place, not just the garage. His journey through the house, interrupted by him looking around, lost in memories, led him to some strange things, such as a rather unsettling answering machine message. It seemed that the wanted man he had heard about was released from prison not too long ago and was on the loose. The message had been from a police officer, warning Josh's mother.

Other things were less worrying and produced pleasant sights, like a picture of Hannah, Emily, Mike, and Sam at prom, a picture of Josh, Hannah, and Beth at the beach, and finally, a film trophy that Josh's dad had won. Chris actually remembered it, he had gone with the Washingtons to the ceremony where he accepted the trophy.

'Wow, it feels like so long ago... So many memories.' Chris thought to himself, before shaking himself out of complacency. 'Okay, stop dawdling, Chris. You got a lock to heat up.'

Quickly recovering, he made his way to the bathroom. He immediately went to and opened the cabinet beneath the sink and saw the deodorant can in front of him. Smiling, he went to take it, but just as his hand closed around it, a furry, sharp-toothed creature leapt from the cabinet with a roar and ran from the room.

"AHHH, SON OF A-!" Chris cried out in shock and alarm as he fell to the ground.

Recovering, he stood, staring out the door. "What the fuck?!"

He blinked and then looked down. He still had the can. "Ah, perfect."

He picked up the lighter and lit it again and made his way back to the front door.

Waiting outside, the girls did their best to stay warm against the cold.

All the same, Ashley couldn't help but complain, "We're freezing our buns off out here!"

It was then that they spotted Chris through the glass as he got to work, using the deodorant and lighter to burn the ice off of the lock. He put the items aside and opened the door. The handle was still hot, making him wince, but he recovered well and gave a mock bow.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week." he joked, making the girls roll their eyes.

Suddenly, at that moment, the creature from the bathroom darted out through the door, startling Chris and the girls, Chris more so.

"EEEK!" he cried out, not in a very manly way. "Jeez!"

Hannah and Ashley laughed at that while Chris shook his head, trying to recover.

"Crap, that thing freaked me out." he muttered.

"What was it? Are you okay?" Ashley asked, concerned.

Shrugging, Chris shook his head. "It was like a bear or a tiger or something."

"Aw..." Hannah replied in a cutesy tone. "It was just a cute little baby wolverine."

"Baby?" Chris shot back, incredulously.

Josh had, by this point, reached the top of the stairs with Matt and Emily just behind him.

"Don't worry, buddy. You're gonna be a big boy soon." he teased.

Chris just groaned and the six of them finally entered the lodge.

Entering the darkened lodge, Josh smiled widely as he gestured widely. "Home sweet home."

Matt shook his head, a little creeped out by the lodge in darkness. "Sweet is not the word I'd use."

Ashley shivered and blew on her hands. "Oh my gosh, it's SO GOOD to be inside. Even if it's still kinda freezing in here."

"I'll get a fire going." Josh offered, happily.

He knelt down by the fireplace and began setting up the fire. Meanwhile, Hannah moved over to the stairs leading to the upper floor, sitting down on them, and let out a relaxed sigh. Emily briefly excused herself. Nobody knew why, but didn't ask.

Matt looked around at the lodge. "This place barely looks any different." he noted.

"Nobody's been up here." Josh replied with a shrug.

Ashley turned at that, a little surprised. "Even with all of the police coming in and out?"

Josh nodded and Chris clarified. "Not a lot of action up here lately."

Josh nodded in agreement. "Nope."

Chris and Ashley walked over to join Hannah, although they simply remained standing by the stairs.

Chris checked his watch and couldn't help but notice how long it had taken for all of this. It was now 22:28. He couldn't help but note that most of that time was spent by him searching the lodge while preparing to open the door. Nevertheless, they were all inside now, just waiting for the others to arrive.

Matt remained by the fireplace while Josh continued to work on setting up and lighting the fire. It was at that moment that Mike and Jessica entered the lodge.

Mike grinned as he called out, "What's up, party people?!"

Jess had an equal grin as she also greeted everyone. "Heeey!"

Josh greeted them enthusiastically, as did the others. Mike and Jess sat down on the sofa and immediately began kissing as Emily walked back in.


	6. Chapter 5

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 5  
**

Emily took one look and instantly felt her anger spike and, glaring she snarked. "Oh my god. That is so gross. Are you trying to swallow his face whole?"

All eyes turned to her, especially Mike and Jess, with Jess glaring at Emily's comment.

"Em..." Matt called out, warningly, worried that she was about to start something again, like usual.

Emily, however, turned to him and shook her head. "Seriously, can she be any more obvious? No one wants in on your territory, honey."

Jess stood up and turned to face her. "Excuse me, did you say something?"

"Oh, did you not hear me?" Emily shot back. "Was your sluttiness too loud?"

The others all shared a worried glance. It was hard to believe that these two girls had been best friends only a year ago.

Jess, however, responded to Emily's insult with a superior smirk. "Sounds like someone's bitter that she didn't make the cut." she taunted. Mike had, after all, dumped Emily in favor of Jess.

Unmoved, Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's all a big cattle call with that dreamboat. Congrats, you're top cow."

With a short, disparaging laugh, Jess shot back, "Cuts real deep calling Miss Homecoming a cow."

Trying to stand up for Emily, Matt spoke up. "H-hey, you're making everyone uncomfortable, Jess."

"Jealous, much?" Jess taunted him. "Emily too frigid for you too?"

Matt stepped back, a little taken aback. "Hey, that's...uncalled for. Look-"

Jess simply waved her hand. Everybody who watched was unsure if they should step in or not, especially Mike. Although, Josh seemed to be having the hardest time, grinding his teeth and no longer even trying to light the fire.

"Whatever..." Jess remarked to both Matt and Emily. "I don't give a crap what you think."

But Emily would not let it lie. "At least I CAN think. 4.0, bitch. Honor roll. Suck on that when you're trying to sleep your way into a job."

It was clear that things were getting more and more heated, which worried the others even more. But none of them could see a way to intervene without things getting even further out of hand.

"Who needs grades when you've got all the natural advantages you can handle?" Jess replied with a smirk as she gestured to her body.

"Oh, please..." Emily muttered darkly.

Jess merely shook her head, her smirk and superior look growing, clearly intending to once again take things further. She opened up by snarking at Emily, once again acting as if she had the advantage.

"You couldn't buy a moldy loaf of bread with your skanky ass!"

"Are you serious?" Emily shot back, almost laughing. "Do you think that's insulting?"

Jess turned to Mike, pointing at Emily. "That bitch is on crack or something!"

"Oh for God's sake, will you both shut the fuck up already?!" a voice suddenly yelled.

There was an awkward silence, everybody staring wide-eyed in disbelief at Hannah, who was the one who had snapped. Even Jess and Emily were shocked into silence as Hannah stalked towards them, glaring.

It was Emily who recovered first. "Excuse me? Just what do you think you're-"

Hannah cut her off sharply. "I'm telling you to shut up! This is bullshit! We didn't come here for the two of you to start your own pointless drama! So what if Mike's with Jess now? If you really care about him, then you can at least respect his decision like I have!"

Recalling the time he had spent supporting her over the past year, Mike was well aware that Hannah was a lot more confident than before. Josh knew about these changes, too. A year ago, Hannah wouldn't have dared to speak up. Now, she wasn't holding back. The others, however, were completely taken aback, having not expected anything like this from the soft-spoken Hannah Washington.

"Hannah, what the fuck do you think you're-" Jess began.

But Hannah cut her off, yelling, "I'm putting a stop to this stupid nonsense right now!"

Jess bit her lip, shocked by this, while Emily glared.

Shaking her head, Emily stepped closer. "Listen, Hannah. I don't know what you think you're doing, but I'm-"

"You're going to shut up and listen for a change, Em!" Hannah snapped. "This trip was so that we could take time to heal and find closure for what happened last year, not for you to start stirring shit up! If neither of you can just get along, then you can both just leave and go back home...NOW!"

That startled even Emily into silence. A silence only broken by Josh.

"Hannah's right. We don't have to put up with this. If we can't get along for ten minutes, then maybe we need a little bit of a break, right? Mike, why don't you check out the guest cabin, the one I told you about."

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Mike replied, jumping to his feet, relieved. "Want to go do that, Jess?"

Jess turned to him and nodded, firing a parting shot at Emily. "Any place without that whore."

Hannah's glare, however, stopped things from going any further.

Once he was sure that things weren't about to start up again, Josh gestured towards the rear exit of the lodge. "It's right up the trail." he said.

Nodding, Mike took Jess' hand and they headed out the back. There was a stony silence. During which, Emily turned to Matt. He shook his head and imitated his head exploding before sighing.

"Phew, glad that's over!" he remarked at last.

Emily just rolled her eyes and turned to her bags. Josh, meanwhile, continued to work on the fire.

"Yeah..." he said, gently.

Matt shifted awkwardly. "So Josh, uh, should we get this fire going?"

Josh smiled at Matt's awkward attempt to pretend that nothing had happened.

"Where's my bag?" Emily suddenly asked.

Everyone tensed at that and Matt turned to her quickly, everybody sensing another drama oncoming.

"Huh?" Matt replied, worried.

"My bag!" she emphasized. "The little bag with the pink pattern? The one I got on Rodeo?"

Silence greeted her and she shook her head.

"Matt, are you listening?" she demanded. "Oh my god, don't you remember? Next to the Italian shoe place where I got the stilettos and you knocked over the rack while you were drooling all over that girl at the counter?"

Matt quickly walked towards Emily, getting defensive. "Well, I mean, she was asking about my letter jacket..." he stated.

Emily rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "Right, because she gave a shit about your 'designer' letter jacket."

Matt gave a short gasp as he responded at once. "Why do you hate my jacket?"

"Matt, I NEED my bag!" she shot back, reminding him of the 'real issue'.

Hannah, hearing this, muttered, "Who cares about one stupid bag? Even if it's important, it's nothing to freak out over."

Nobody else heard her, however. Matt looked around, but everybody was staying out of it, leaving him to handle things alone. He tried to reason with her.

"Oh my god, Em, maybe you just forgot it-"

She didn't respond well to that, however. "Do you seriously think I'd forget my bag?"

"Well, I-"

Do you?" she demanded.

Matt sighed. "Guess not."

Nodding, satisfied, she stated calmly, "You must've left it down by the cable car station."

He let out a groan and she quickly responded, "C'mon, hun. We'll be back soon."

"And then we can get warm?" he queried, already tired of arguing and freezing his ass off.

She grinned and remarked suggestively, "We can get VERY warm."

Matt nodded and agreed at last and together, they left, preparing to head back to the cable car station.

After a brief, awkward silence as the group of eight found themselves reduced to four, Hannah let out a relieved sigh and stood up.

"Okay, I am gonna go take a bath." she stated before turning and climbing the stairs.

Although she hadn't told anyone, Hannah still harbored some animosity towards Jess and Emily for instigating the prank that led to the disappearances of her sister and best friend, which was another reason why Hannah had spoken to them so forcefully while they were arguing. With this feeling still fresh in her mind, along with feeling the stress of the drama created by Jess and Emily, Hannah needed to calm down and relax. And for her, a hot bath was the best way to do that.

The others all nodded, with Chris and Ashley moving to sit on the sofa while Josh continued to work on the fire.

* * *

Exiting the lodge into the frigid night, Mike and Jess stood on the back porch. Jess approached the edge of the porch while Mike sighed.

"Exiled." he stated, blandly.

Jess gave him a wicked smile as she joked. "You mean sex-iled?"

He laughed at that. "Works for me."

He approached her as she began rubbing her arms, shivering in the cold.

"Brr...how far is this 'cabin', anyway?" she asked, a skeptical tone in her voice.

Laughing, Mike wrapped his arms around her and began to explain. "This cabin is the coziest, most romantic love den you will ever lay your eyes upon."

"Psh..." she shook her head, playfully shoving him. "If we ever make it there."

Mike shrugged casually, leaning on the balcony ledge. "Oh, I have a feeling that luck's on our side."

Laughing at this, Jess remarked teasingly, "Play your cards right and maybe YOU will get lucky."

Mike grinned at that and straightened up. They were both prepared to get going.

Just then, Josh opened the door and leaned out. "Hey, porn stars!" he called out to them, throwing something to them. "You're gonna need these."

Jess caught it, revealing that it was the keys to the cabin.

She raised an eyebrow at Josh's comment, however, and queried, "Porn star?"

Josh stepped out, laughing. "Well, I'd pay to see it."

"Uh, gross?" she replied, shaking her head.

Josh just laughed again. He then turned to Mike and sighed.

"Sorry to kick you out like that-" he began.

But Mike just casually waved his hand. "No worries, man."

Nodding, Josh remarked suggestively, "Oh, I'm sure you'll find a way to entertain yourselves."

"Mmm-hmmm." Jess replied, doing her best to ignore his suggestive comment. "Well, you have fun with the peanut gallery."

Laughing, Josh mimed a gun shot to the head and began to make his way back inside.

"Oh, almost forgot." he said, stopping suddenly and gesturing. "You gotta fire up the generator so that you can see where you're going. It's dark out there."

With that, he headed back inside while Mike nodded and prepared to begin their hike to the cabin.

Smirking, Jess turned to him and remarked, "You know, I think that Josh was flirting with me."

"Mmkay..." Mike replied, before joking, "You want to invite him up with us?"

"Wait, really?" Jess replied.

"What?" Mike gasped, shaking his head. "No!"

She just laughed and headed down onto the trail. Mike followed her, pulling out and turning on his flashlight, noting that she had stopped. He approached her, confused, until she turned, smiling widely as she held out her phone.

"Hey, hot lips, photobooth?" she offered.

Laughing eagerly, he replied, "Alright, you read my mind."

He took the phone and they prepared for a selfie together. He soon took it and Jess took the phone back, examining it.

Jess grinned widely. "Oh my god, this is perfect! We're, like, the cutest couple!"

"Damn, you should be a model." Mike replied as he too observed the picture.

Jess smiled coquettishly. "You keep that camera handy and maybe I'll let you start my portfolio...at the cabin."

"Wink. Noted!"

Jess then began to move along the path again. Walking along, she called out. "Okay, let's go, I've got cabin fever." She paused briefly before rubbing her arms through her jacket again. "Brr, it's freezing out here!"

"Now that's something that I can help you with." Mike told her, confidently.

Liking the direction that this conversation was going, Jess fired back, "And how are you gonna do that?"

Mike grinned and said cheerfully, "I've got a few things in mind."

As they walked on, heading for the shed where the generator waited, Jess shook her head. "Emily's as dumb as she looks if she thinks that she can cut in on what we've got going on." She then lowered her voice, adding vindictively, "Maybe if we're lucky she'll try and follow us out here and get eaten by a bear."

Shrugging, Mike casually noted, "Well, I think you bring out the worst in her."

"Is that so?" Jess queried, raising an eyebrow.

"EPIC jealousy." Mike confirmed.

"Yeah. She can suck it." Jess said in a confident, satisfied tone of voice.

Mike then entered the generator shed after their little talk and, finding the latch, he opened it and, carefully observing the controls, he soon flipped the switch and fired it up, turning on the lights.

"Boom! Nice one, Mikey!"

Jess cheered. "Woo! You are a wizard!"

They headed over to the gate and Mike opened it. Together, they headed through and began crossing a wooden bridge over a stream.

Deciding to add a little 'mood' to their walk, Jess turned on some music on her phone.

"Pretty good, right?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, totally! This is...awesome."

"Awww, yeah! I bring the hits." Jess replied enthusiastically. "You psyched yet? You don't looked psyched yet!"

Laughing at her infectious enthusiasm, Mike reassured her, "I am so psyched right now!"

"It's like a little adventure." she continued, cheerfully. "A sexcapade."

Mike couldn't help but laugh at that. Although, the laughter died away as he and Jess stopped, noticing police tape wrapped around some trees.

"Police tape...?" Jess began to question him.

He sighed. "From Sam and Beth."

Shifting uncomfortably, Jess softly remarked, "You'd think they'd clean it up..."

Shrugging, Mike explained, "Well, they never closed the investigation."

"Okay, I'm gettin' the creeps now." Jess replied, with a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. She was growing nervous. Death was a scary thing for her to think about.

Doing his best to reassure her and be respectful, he said, "Well, wherever they are...I'm sure they're happy that we're all thinking about them."

She smiled gently. "That's...a nice way of thinking about it."

Trying to put the unease behind them, they continued onwards. It was then that two things happened in quick succession, which caused them concern. The first was a scream that they could hear in the distance, which disturbed both of them. The second was finding a tree blocking their path.

"Ah, damn." Mike muttered. "I don't think we can get up to the cabin with the path blocked like this."

Jess shook her head vehemently at that. "Oh, no way am I going back to the lodge, a.k.a. wax museum, to drink hot chocolate with Emily!"

As she spoke, she began to walk the other way, along a separate fork in the path. "You know what? Fuck it. We're adventurous. We'll find another way around."

Mike joined her. They entered what appeared to be an abandoned mineshaft entrance with a wooden waist-high barrier blocking the way forwards. Jess leaned on it, only for the rotting timbers to break and for her to fall, screaming.

"JESS!" Mike cried out. "Fuck! Hey, Jessica!" He darted to the edge to find her standing up, breathing heavily, but apparently unharmed.

"Yep!" she called out, turning around. "Hey, I'm okay!"

Mike breathed a sigh of relief. "Holy crap, you scared the heck out of me."

Brushing herself off, Jess shot back, "Well, how do you think I felt?"

"Er, you didn't hit your head or anything?" he questioned, still worried.

With an impish grin, Jess replied, "As far as I can tell, I still have all seven of my limbs."

"Yeah..." Mike replied with a small laugh at her sexual reference. "Can you get out?"

She looked behind her and bit her lip. "Uh, I don't know. I can hardly see anything down here!"

Mike pondered for the smallest of moments on his course of action. For Mike, it was a no-brainer. "Alright, I'm comin' after you. Just stay put!"

With that, he jumped down, unaware of the dark clad figure with goggles and a scarf covering his face standing behind him, the same one who had been watching him through the window of the generator shed. Landing on the ground, Mike joined Jess, who smiled, impressed with his heroism.

"Hey handsome, wanna help me move this cart thing?" she asked playfully, gesturing to the mine cart blocking the path.

"Alright." Mike said, and began pushing. "Help me move it, help me move it."

Jess agreed and together they were able to push the cart, although it was still an effort.

"When I imagined us grunting together..." Mike quipped. "This is not what I pictured."

Jess laughed at that and soon they were able to get around the cart and continue their walk through the mine. However, it was then that they heard a rumble and another mine cart came around the corner, barreling towards them. They both cried out, but Mike was able to catch the cart and stop it.

"Holy crap!" Jess screamed. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

Wincing, Mike nodded. "Ah, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

They glanced back at the mine carts and hurried onwards.

"Whoa nellie, this place is givin' me the willies. And not the good kind of willies." Jess remarked.

Smiling, Mike replied, "Can I offer you a little comfort and reassurance?"

Jess just laughed and said, "Save it for the cabin, buster."

Mike then happened to spot something to the right of them, on a dead end path. He went to examine it with Jess following, wondering what had piqued his curiosity.

"Huh...stogie." he revealed, as he picked up the cigar stub that had been sitting on an oil drum.

Jess arched an eyebrow, confused. "Weird place to hang out and smoke cigars."

Mike also noticed something else. "It's recent. I wonder who was up here..."

He trailed off as he put it down, for his flashlight had suddenly illuminated a strange symbol on the wall.

"Whoa, this place is like...historical." he gasped, upon seeing it.

Jess couldn't help but be amazed, too. "Holy bat cave."

Mike nodded. "It's gotta be Native American, right?"

Jess shrugged and they quickly returned to the path and continued making their way through the mine. Their trip was uneventful, save for a plank of wood nearly falling on top of them, and the discovery of a map, dated 1952, which showed that the place was in danger of structural collapse, all of which certainly made them more edgy. But to their relief, they finally found their way out of the mine and back onto the path, revealing a sign in the distance that read 'cabin'.

Eyeing the sign, Jess let out a low whistle. "Well, well, when Josh said 'cabin' I thought, like, Abe Lincoln." she joked.

Caught up in her mood, Mike replied, "Wait 'till you see the Lincoln Bedroom."

"Oh, are you planning to get presidential on me?"

"Wanna take a ride on Air Force One?" Mike joked.

Shaking her head, Jess replied, "Alright, alright, save it for the stump speech, buddy."

It was then that she spotted an observation telescope and hurried over to it, excited, and looking through it, all the while cheerfully muttering to herself.

"Gonna look at the trees... gonna look at the clouds... gonna look at the cabin-... Uh. Whoa." She stepped back, shocked.

"You alright?" Mike asked, concerned.

Jess bit her lip. "I just saw someone at the cabin."

Mike looked through it himself but saw nothing. He did his best to reassure Jess that it was just her imagination and she reluctantly accepted this before they headed through the nearby gate and onwards down another trail. They hadn't gone far when a bird suddenly jumped out at them, startling Mike.

"Watch out, bird-brain." Jess laughed.

Mike shook his head and offered up, as an excuse, "I was just...answering its mating call."

Laughing even more, Jess shot back, "Wow, you're easy."

"Yeah, got a lotta love to give."

Still chuckling, Jess continued onwards while Mike muttered to himself, "I was scared."

They continued until they found yet another tree blocking their path. Frustrated, Mike almost felt like yelling.

"Goddamn it, Josh. Couldn't you have at least cleared out the path before sending us up here?" he complained to no one in particular.

"Really?" Jess remarked incredulously. "I didn't figure you for the glass half-empty type."

"You got a better idea?"

Grinning, Jess took a couple of steps back. "Stand back, Debbie Downer."

With that, she ran up to the tree and vaulted up, climbing to the top of the fallen tree trunk.

"Oh, boooo! Show off." Mike remarked in response.

"Hey, Mike." Jess said, standing up straight. "You got something on your face."

Mike reached up to his face, then Jess suddenly threw a snowball, hitting him square in the face.

"Boom!" she cried out.

"Okay... Okay." Mike said as he recovered, making his own snowball. "Well, if that's how it's gonna be."

He turned around, ready to throw it, only to find Jessica gone from the tree trunk.

"Jess?"

Suddenly, he heard a scream, a scream that he instantly recognized: her scream.

"Jess!?"


	7. Chapter 6

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 6  
**

Back at the Washington Lodge, Hannah was upstairs in the bathroom, adjusting the taps on the bathtub and shaking her head. She checked the water with her hand, sighed, and adjusted the taps some more.

"Hannah!" Josh suddenly called up from back of the main room.

She straightened up and called back, "Whaaaaat?"

"You wanna help me get this fire going?"

She bit her lip and casually admitted, "Umm... Well, I was just getting into the bath."

There was a brief pause before Josh replied teasingly, "Oh! Well, do you want me to send one of the others up to help you with that?"

"Hardy har." Hannah groaned in reply, rolling her eyes and sighing.

She tried the taps again and checked the water. She was turning on the hot tap, but getting no hot water.

"Oh, come on." she muttered, before sighing. "Dammit, Josh. You've been up here for a while, getting everything set up for this weekend. You could've at least checked to see if the hot water was on."

She turned and left the bathroom, pausing briefly as she looked to her left. There was a door that had clearly been closed for quite some time. Despite knowing who the room belonged to and why it was closed, Hannah couldn't help herself. She walked over and towards Beth's room. She stopped at the doorway, biting her lip.

'Should I…?' she wondered.

But, sighing, she knew that she couldn't do it. Even after the search was done, during the few times that she was up at the lodge, which was as few as she could get away with, she could never bring herself to enter Beth's room. She felt, that by doing so, she'd be invading the last sanctuary of her sister at this place. So, with a heavy sigh, she turned and walked away.

Making her way across the upper floor and onto the balcony that led to the stairs, she could hear Josh, Chris, and Ashley down below.

"Come on..." Josh was complaining, much as she had been doing earlier.

There was a pause, then Chris queried, "How long do you think it'll take him?"

Hannah could easily tell that Ashley was shrugging as she answered. "My money's on blankets for everyone!"

They then started joking and cheering him on and Hannah smiled, amused by their antics as she descended the stairs and approached them. This was the kind of 'getting along' attitude that she had hoped for during this weekend.

Josh stood up from the fireplace and turned to them, shaking his head. "Alright, peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you two." he remarked.

"What?" Ashley replied, taken aback by his sudden remark.

Grinning, Josh explained, "Okay, well, I'm pretty that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have...a spirit board."

Ashley made a face at that. "A what?"

"Wow..." Chris sarcastically gasped. "You have 'a spirit board'?"

Finally realizing just what he meant, Ashley asked incredulously, "Wait, are you saying...that we should have a seance?"

Chris, however, shook his head. "Those things are a joke, man. They don't do shit."

"No way, bro." Josh insisted. "We used to do it all the time, me and, well..."

They all went quiet at that, knowing that he was talking about Beth and Sam. Also eager to avoid such awkwardness, Hannah decided now to make her presence known.

"Hey, Josh." she called out. "The boiler's out again. Where's that flashlight? I'll go and fix it."

Josh just smiled and gestured. "Ah, hold on, Han. I'll come with you. Remember how fiddly that thing is."

Hannah nodded, knowing what Josh said was indeed very true.

"You guys see if you can find the spirit board." he said, turning to Chris and Ashley.

Enthusiastic, Ashley stood up. "Chris, let's go find it, it'll be like a scavenger hunt."

"Umm...okay..." Chris replied, uncertain. "I guess so."

"Rad..." Josh replied happily. "You're not gonna regret it."

So they split up, with Chris and Ashley heading off on their search while Josh began to walk towards the basement and Hannah followed. Once down in the basement, Josh turned to Hannah, smirking.

"Hey, you notice how I gave Chris and Ash a mission together?" he queried, and when she nodded, he continued. "Yeah, I was thinking that they could use some 'alone time'."

Hannah laughed good-naturedly and nodded. "They are very sweet together. I wish they'd just freakin' get on with it already."

Josh casually shrugged. "I swear, they just need, like...something to bond over, y'know? Some sort of traumatic event to send them into each others' arms."

Hannah wasn't so sure if she'd word it that way, but she didn't say anything as Josh retrieved a flashlight from a drawer and opened the door. They began to descend, heading for the basement.

Stopping just past the door, Josh sighed. "You know, Hannah..."

She turned to her brother, a little concerned.

"I just wanted to say..." He hesitated, but, encouraged by her, continued. "It really means a lot to me that everyone came back this year and, you know…that you came, Sis."

Gently touching his shoulder, Hannah spoke as reassuringly as she could. "Josh, we're here for you, really. Whatever you need, whenever. We're all gonna make it through this. Together."

"Um, I want us to have a good time, you know." Josh stated.

Hannah bit her lip. "Josh, trust me, we have help. We have people who care about us. We can do this... It's hard, it'll always be hard, but we'll manage."

Josh sighed. "I know that, I know..."

Feeling terrible for asking, Hannah nevertheless did so. "Josh, remember what Dr. Hill said. Have you...been taking the medication and...?"

Josh actually laughed. "Relax, will ya? Yeah, I have been taking it, okay?"

Hannah nodded, deciding to trust her brother, and they began to make their way down, joking around a little with each other on the way. They soon found the boiler cabinet and Josh got to work, opening it and preparing to set things up.

"Alright...here we go."

Hannah shook her head. "Ugh, this place still creeps me out."

"Hannah..." he replied, glancing at her. "Seriously? You're still all freaked out by our 'scary basement'?"

Looking around, Hannah bit her lip. "What do you think?"

"Oh, man." Josh laughed. "I still remember that time-"

"We agreed to never speak of that again." Hannah quickly cut him off.

Josh just laughed and continued to work. Meanwhile, Hannah spotted something in the cabinet and picked it up, a little surprised. It was a baseball bat.

"What's this doing here?" she asked, turning to show it to Josh. "I thought that you lost this?"

Smiling widely, Josh took it from Hannah and examined it, even giving a practice swing as he spoke.

"Whoa, totally forgot that this was down here!" he said, excitedly. "Man, this brings back memories, playing ball with Dad all the time."

There was an awkward pause before Josh shrugged. "Oh well, save it for the couch, right?"

Hannah couldn't deny that she was a little worried at how rapidly Josh's mood seemed to switch, but she held back her thoughts.

Setting the baseball bat against the wall, Josh examined the boiler again.

"Okay, lemme see what I can do with this old hot water machine." he quipped, handing Hannah the flashlight. "Here, can you...can you hold this?"

Hannah took it but then turned quickly, hearing a strange noise. "What was that?"

Josh turned to her. "What was what? Just shine it here so that I can see what I'm doing."

Turning, Hannah did so and held the light steady while Josh worked.

"Nice one." he said, once he was finished. "Okay, first things first: hit up the water pressure and then we can fire her up."

Hannah nodded. "Got it. Leave that to me."

Josh smiled and replied, "Aye-aye."

He took up his place before nodding to her and Hannah then took her place, ready. While Josh worked, the water pressure began to build and, when the light flashed, just as instructed, Hannah pulled the lever and the boiler came rumbling to life.

"There we go."

Josh grinned. "That's more like it, alright! Give me five!"

Returning the grin, Hannah high-fived her brother, who smiled widely before turning and closing the boiler cabinet. It was then, suddenly, that Hannah was sure she heard the noise again.

"What the hell is that…?"

Josh stepped forwards, shrugging. "Could be a lot of things...and none of them nice..."

Seeing his smirk, Hannah shook her head. "Hey, quit it. We're not kids anymore."

"I'm just...just 'Joshing' ya."

Hannah rolled her eyes and mock laughed at his bad joke.

Josh genuinely laughed, however, as he teased his little sister. "You were really freaked out."

Hannah scoffed and tried to protest. "I was not scared."

"No, no..." Josh replied quickly, still joking around. "You just jumped because you wanted to squeeze in some aerobics, right?"

"Don't be an a-hole, okay?" Hannah continued to protest. "I totally didn't jump! All I said was, 'what was that?', which is a totally normal reaction to hearing a super creepy noise in a super creepy basement."

She was cut off by the sound happening again.

Josh tensed, stepping forwards slowly. Now both of them were looking down the corridor leading further into the basement.

"Okay, so, you hear that too, right? Josh?"

"What…?" he whispered in disbelief.

Hannah shook her head. "The rhythm's, like, weirdly regular..."

"No, no. Nothing 'regular' about it." Josh replied in a whisper.

Hannah shuddered at that, but then squared her shoulders and put on a brave face.

"I'm gonna check it out." she said as she began to move down the corridor.

Josh was startled by this. "What? Why?"

"What do you care, fraidyface?" she shot back, determined to get back at her brother for his earlier teasing.

"It's probably just, like, not anything." he said.

Hannah shook her head. "Why don't you hold down the fort while I make sure?"

"Okay, whatever you say, madam." Josh snarked back.

Hannah continued down the corridor until suddenly, a man wearing a hockey mask and a monk's robe leapt out, roaring. Hannah screamed and turned to run.

Josh started and cried out, "Whoa, Hannah, whoa..."

Hannah ran to him, pulling down a wooden pallet against the wall as she passed. Josh stood his ground until Hannah just passed him and then ran, too. They were so caught up in running that they didn't see the man stumble over the pallet and pull his mask off, although the hood still hid his face.

Hannah and Josh's attempts to flee were hindered suddenly when they encountered a locked door.

"Oh come ON now." Hannah cried as she struggled with it. "You kept the door locked?!"

Josh shook his head frantically. "It's to keep out strangers!"

He tried to cover Hannah as she struggled to open the door. But it was no use, the monk caught up with them. Hannah spun around and they pressed themselves back against the door.

"Hey..." the monk said in a gravelly voice.

"What…?" Hannah gasped.

"Heeyyyyy..."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Hannah choked out, her voice strangled from her earlier screaming.

The monk removed his hood and grinned as his identity was revealed.

"Boom! You just got monked!"Chris announced triumphantly.

There was a stony silence before Josh burst out laughing and Hannah looked outraged.

"WHAT?!"

"Nice, nice one." Josh managed to say between laughs and he fist-bumped Chris. "That was good."

Hannah spluttered, trying to get the words out, unable to believe what had just occurred. "Why? W...why would you do that?"

"There's all this cool old movie crap down here." Chris explained. "What? Was I...was I NOT supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?"

"Are you...are you serious?" she shot back before turning to Josh and shoving his shoulder. "Were you in on this, you putz?"

"Nope." Josh defended before admitting, "But I wish I was, that was too good!"

The two high-fived and Hannah groaned before they all finally left the basement with Josh locking the door behind them before they made their way to the main room.

With a heavy sigh, Hannah glanced over at Chris. "I'm ready to admit that your dumb little prank may have had a slight whiff of humor to it." she admitted.

Chris grinned in response. "Jokemaster!"

Shaking her head, Hannah responded, "I said nothing about jokes. I said it was your prank, which was dumb-"

"Holy crap, you were scared. Admit it." Josh cut in with another laugh.

"I was not!"

Josh wouldn't let it go, however. "Come on, you totally pissed yourself."

"Josh!"

While Josh cared deeply for his sister, it was clear that he still enjoyed being the typical big brother who could tease his younger sister and get away with it. Because of this, to Hannah, it seemed like some things would never change, no matter how old they got.

Chris walked further ahead than the pair, to where Ashley was waiting. Hannah stopped by the stairs and Josh followed Chris. Ashley took a moment to take in Chris wearing the monk's robe.

"What..in God's name...are you wearing?" she asked at last.

Jokingly making the sign of the cross in front of her, Chris replied, "I have found my true calling."

Clasping her hands together, Ashley jokingly replied, "Please tell me you're going to take a vow of silence."

Chris continued to joke, pretending to speak inaudibly, making Ashley laugh.

"Okay, okay, did you at least find the...thingy?"

"Boi-oi-oi-oing!" Chris produced the appropriate sound effect as he pulled the Ouija board from his costume. "Here's our one-way ticket to the spirit realm!"

Ashley nodded and Hannah sighed.

"You know what, you know what, no." she said. "I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball."

The others all nodded and Hannah began to ascend the stairs.

She called back, "Alright? So have fun. Oh, but watch out for Josh." She smirked and finished her statement in a sing-song voice. "He's a schemer!"

Josh just laughed and joined Chris and Ashley as they prepared to use the Ouija board, with Hannah heading up for her bath at last.

* * *

Chris grinned as he, Josh, and Ashley sat together. They had pulled three wooden chairs over to a small table in one corner of the room, set up the spirit board, and were now gathered around it.

Chris began to inform the others, taking some 'liberties' with his instructions. "So it says here: 'To communicate with the spirit world, you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the Spirit-master," which is me-"

"It doesn't say that." Ashley scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Chris laughed shortly before jokingly adding, "And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion."

Josh groaned. "Chris, come on, this is serious."

"Oh, I'm deadly serious."

Finally, Ashley shook her head. "Oh shush it, let's try this."

"Yes, please." Josh added.

All three of them placed their hands on the board.

"Okay then." Chris conceded at last. "Let's see what happens. Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?"

Biting her lip, Ashley nodded as they all touched the pointer. "OK, um... Anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us...if you're there?"

There was a lengthy pause where nothing happened. Then, to their shock, the pointer began moving, guiding their hands. They were startled and cried out in surprise and consternation.

"Wait a minute..." Chris gasped.

Josh practically choked his words out. "Did you do that?"

Ashley shook her head. "I didn't do anything!"

"It's moving again." Chris noted.

The pointer indeed began moving again, this time spelling out a word, starting with H. They continued talking over each other.

"What's it spelling?" Josh cried out.

"Hold on." Ashley whispered, worried.

"How is this happening?"

Chris was still skeptical. "Are you moving it?"

Ashley shook her head vehemently. "I swear, it's just moving."

There was a pause as it finished spelling the word.

"Holy shit..." Josh whispered in disbelief.

Ashley repeated the word, utterly taken aback. "Help?"

Chris shook his head. "How are we supposed to help?"

"I don't know." Ashley retorted. "What does it mean?"

Chris thought for a moment. "We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them."

Ashley nodded and asked, "Who are you? Oh, here it goes..."

The pointer began moving again. They read out the word it spelled aloud, Josh reacting first, followed by Ashley, and then Chris, before the cycle repeated, although ending with Ashley, rather than Chris.

"Okay, 'L'."

"O"

"V"

"E"

"R"

"Lover..." Ashley said, breathlessly. "Lover?"

"Whose lover?" Josh asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Ashley and Chris shared a look, both clearly thinking the same thing.

Chris, however, still seemed skeptical. "Oh come on, is this for real?"

"Shut up." Josh snarled before insisting, "Ask it whose lover."

Ashley shifted uneasily. Finally, she voiced her thoughts. "Josh, it's...it's gotta be..." She couldn't finish, but she didn't need to.

Josh realized, but was still intense as he shot back. "Yeah? You...you think so? Is it...really her?"

Chris nodded slowly. "Ashley, ask who it is, it's the only way to clarify it."

Ashley shuddered, suddenly more afraid than ever. She considered for a moment before simply choosing at random.

"Who are we speaking to…? Sam…? Is that you?"

The pointer suddenly moved to 'Yes' on the board.

"Oh God." Ashley whimpered, freaked out.

Chris was even more edgy now. "This is messed up."

Worried, Ashley immediately turned to Josh. "Josh, are you…?"

"I'm fine." he insisted.

"Are you sure? Because we can stop-" Ashley began to reply.

"No."

"Dude." Chris said, softly. "It's cool..."

"I want to hear what it says." Josh explained, suddenly looking rather manic.

Ashley shook her head. "I don't know where to start."

They fell into a short silence, thinking. Finally, Chris spoke up, a spark of interest in his eyes.

"Think about it." he said, quietly. "If this is actually Sam, I mean, we can find out what happened that night."

"Oh...kay..." Ashley nervously whispered. "Let me think…"

Finally, Ashley spoke again, voicing her question. "Sam... We want to know what happened to you that night. Can you tell us?"

The pointer began moving again.

Ashley spoke quickly, trying to keep up. "B-E-"

"It's spelling Beth." Chris piped up.

But then Ashley realized. "Wait, it's still going."

"K-I-" Chris read.

Ashley continued. "L-L... Oh my god..."

The word finished, adding in 'E' and 'D'.

"Killed?" Josh exhaled. "Guys...guys, what's she talking about?"

Ashley shook her head, sounding as if she was borderline to a breakdown. "I don't know if I can keep doing this..."

"We have to." Josh insisted.

There was an edgy silence. Finally, Chris seemed to make up his mind.

He spoke reassuringly to Ashley. "Just...just stay calm. I think it's saying that someone killed Beth..."

"I don't know..." Ashley said, shakily.

"I just..." Chris bit his lip. "Ask it something else!"

Ashley nodded, trying to regain her composure. "Okay, okay... How was Beth killed?"

The pointer moved again as Ashley read out loud, beginning to spell the word. "L-I-B-"

Chris immediately caught on. "Library. Maybe there's something in the library here..."

"P-R-O-O..." Ashley read out.

Chris realized again what was going on. "Proof. There's...there's proof."

"In the library?" Ashley queried in disbelief.

Suddenly, the spirit board shook and flipped the pointer clean off the table, making all three jump back.

"Watch out!" Josh cried out.

The others also cried out. The lengthy silence was broken by Josh, shakily getting to his feet.

"You know what? No. This is bullshit." He was almost growling. "This isn't real..."

"Josh, I don't know what's going on." Ashley insisted.

Josh glared. "Listen, I don't know...I don't know if you think messing with me is somehow going to help me with my grief or whatever, but this is not cool."

He began to storm away.

"Josh, no!" Ashley tried to explain, pointing out, "You wanted us to use the spirit board in the first place!"

"Hey, calm down, it's not Ash's fault!" Chris tried to defend her.

Josh merely snarled at them. "I don't need this right now, okay?! You guys are full of it!"

With that, he stalked away, heading down into the basement.

Standing awkwardly, feeling guilty, Ashley turned to Chris. "Sh-should we go after him?" she hesitantly asked.

Chris shook his head. "Nah, man. I mean...he'll be okay, let's...let's just give him some time."

Ashley trusted Chris. He was Josh's best friend, so he'd know how to handle Josh when he was behaving like this. All the same, she was freaked out.

"I don't blame him... That was crazy. The pointer flew right off the table."

"I mean, if..." Chris began, unsure how to word what he was saying, "If you were faking it, you were doing one hell of a job-"

"I wasn't faking anything." Ashley insisted. "I think that we should do what it says. We should look in the library."

Chris nodded in agreement and they prepared to do just that.


	8. Chapter 7

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 7  
**

Looking around warily at the spot on the fallen tree trunk where Jess had been standing, Mike bit his lip worriedly.

"Jess?" he called out, having heard her scream.

She screamed again and Mike panicked. "Jess?!"

He hurried over and began to climb over the tree trunk, nearly getting the wind knocked out of him in the process.

"OOOOF." he gasped, before cringing. "FUCK NUGGETS!"

He clambered over and jumped down, following the path, looking around warily as he went, using his flashlight to find any clue.

"Jessica…?" he called out worriedly, continuing his calls as he searched. "Ah, come on. Jess? Buddy?"

He stopped by an old abandoned tractor, one that had clearly been there for some time.

"You in there?" he whispered, as he tried the door.

Suddenly, a scarecrow mask popped up from within the vehicle, making Mike leap back with a yelp.

"Ahh, whoa, Christ!" He took a deep breath, calming down. "That scared the blue outta my jeans. The hell is that doing in there, anyway?"

Composing himself, he continued his search, calling out at various times as he went up the right hand path from the tractor.

"Jess? Hon? Light of my life?" Then jokingly added, "I totally promise I won't murder you when I find you."

Just then, a figure with large antler-like horns leapt from the shadows and Mike screamed...a very unmanly scream.

The figure burst out laughing, revealing themselves to be Jess, holding a pair of loose antlers to her head.

"Oh my god!" she laughed, putting the antlers on the ground.

"Oh my...no!" Mike cried out, shaking his head in dismay.

Jess couldn't hold back her laughter. "Haha, that was so good!"

"Not...no!"

Hurrying to where she had set her phone down, she spoke to him. "Wait, wait, wait, you have to see this...you have-"

"I'm not seeing anyth- no. No!" Mike groaned.

But Jess was insistent, holding out her phone to him. "Look, no, no, no. Mike, haha!"

"You recorded that?" he hissed through gritted teeth.

"Look at your face!" Jess insisted with glee.

"I was scared that you were in trouble, Jess!" he groaned. "You can't just jump out at somebody! I'm in the middle of the woods, it's scary!"

Laughing still, Jess remarked sarcastically, "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

"I-if you send that to anybody..." he warned.

"You'll what?" she challenged, cheerfully.

"I'm...gonna...kill ya." he finished lamely, not convincing at all.

Smirking, Jess jokingly teased him. "I didn't know that you had such a cute little lady-like scream, Michael. Guess you never really know someone unless you scare the pants off 'em!"

Rolling his eyes and regaining his composure, Mike replied. He opted to respond with a casual witticism. "As far as I can tell, my pants are still on."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, looks like you'll have to try harder." he quipped.

"A challenge, eh?" she replied, confidently. "Well, I hope you're strapped in, 'cause you're about to feel the full force of my mind melting thrill skills."

With that, the couple reunited and continued on their way. As they walked, however, Mike was inwardly not too happy about Jess' prank.

_'Is she crazy? What was she thinking, doing that?'_ he found himself thinking. _'Especially after what happened last year to Sam and Beth. She shouldn't fake being in danger, that's not something that you joke about. I was really scared for her...and she does that? What if she really was in danger someday, yet she'd tricked me so often, that I wouldn't believe it? This just makes her seem...ignorant.'_

As they continued onwards, they soon began crossing a bridge which overlooked a small waterfall. Jessica gasped in amazement, loving the surroundings.

"Woooow...It's kind of like a real winter wonderland out here now..."

"Hey girl, you know I hook you up!" Mike responded quickly, slipping back into a cheerful mood and trying to bury his concerns about Jess.

Jess nodded happily and they resumed their trek. He didn't want to give voice to his doubts, despite the thoughts about Jess being surprisingly insensitive that clouded his mind.

It was then that they were interrupted by a rather disconcerting noise.

"The hell is that?" Mike whispered, uneasy.

Jess was also worried. "Was it someone screaming?"

"Naw, no, probably just a squirrel or something." Mike replied, trying to be reassuring.

"Brr. Creep town."

They continued, now more than eager to reach the cabin. But Mike suddenly stopped, hearing something.

"Shh!"

"What?" Jess whispered.

"Did you hear that?"

Jess shook her head and Mike warily lifted a snowball. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should throw it. In the end, his hesitance led to him dropping the snowball. Both he and Jess cried out in surprise as a deer jumped out from the trees and tore past them. Both recovering from their close call, they resumed their journey.

Mike was certain that they were almost there. On the way, they came across an abandoned shack.

"Charming."

Jess laughed at that and jokingly replied, "It's everything you described, Michael."

"Wait, what?" he responded, confused.

"The cabin. I love it."

He rolled his eyes and responded with a sarcastic 'yeah'. Still, he decided to check it out while Jess cleaned up some mud from her coat from a nearby small pond, thankfully not completely frozen over.

A careful search of the old shack turned up nothing except an old miner's mask. Curious about it, Mike decided to share his discovery with Jess, while at the same time, get revenge for her prank. Sure it seemed petty, especially given his earlier thoughts, but just this once, he felt that it was justified.

Sneaking up on Jess, holding mask over his face, he made his move, producing the most scary noise he could. Jess reacted at once, screaming and falling into the pond that she had been cleaning her hands in, getting soaked in the process as she struggled to clamber out. As she whimpered, clearly put out, Mike couldn't help but laugh.

Jess reacted at once. "No! Do not!"

"OH MY GOD, JESS!" Mike laughed.

She shook her head; shaking more water off. "Do not be laughing at me right now."

"Revenge is mine!"

"Oh no, that is NOT fair." she protested, not happy that the she was on the receiving end of a scare for a change.

Mike shrugged. "Turnabout is fair play, my good lady."

"I just scared you." Jess groaned. "I didn't soak you!"

Mike sighed and tossed the mask aside. "Hey, I will do everything in my power to warm you up."

"You'd better get cookin'."

"Do not underestimate my culinary chops." he replied, confidently.

Jess shook her head but said nothing more.

They continued, Mike briefly wondering if they'd have any more distractions on the way. They soon got their answer as another deer leapt out in front of them and ran ahead, making both of them yelp. A short while later, they heard a high-pitched screech.

"What is that?" Jess shakily whispered.

"Not sure I wanna know."

It was shortly after that when they found the deer dying. The poor creature lay on the ground, its neck savaged. Its labored breathing spoke of its agony.

"Damn..." Mike whispered.

Jess shook her head in dismay. "It's horrible."

Examining the deer, Mike shook his head sadly. "I don't think it's gonna make it."

Deciding to at least ease its final moments, Mike slowly approached it. He knelt down, talking gently.

"Hey, bud... Hey, buddy."

Jess did the same, talking softly. "Oh my god, the poor thing..."

He moved closer and gently stroked its head.

"It's okay...it's okay..."

"Mike, it's in so much pain." Jess said sadly.

He nodded before talking, again trying to be reassuring. "It'll be over soon, okay? It'll be over soon."

Suddenly, they heard the high-pitched screech again and the deer was suddenly yanked away from them and into the shadows. They both cried out, terrified.

"AHHH!" Jess screamed.

"WHOA!" Mike looked around wildly before quickly calling out, "RUN! RUN!"

They fled for their lives as they heard the wet, crunching noise of the deer being slaughtered by whatever had grabbed it, something that was now right behind them.

As they ran, hearing the sounds of rapid pursuit, Jess screamed, "Oh my god, what the hell was that?!"

"I don't know!" Mike yelled back.

Spotting a route, Jess cried out, "There's a bridge! Over here! Over here, Mike!"

She leapt over the gap of the fallen bridge, Mike following close behind, also jumping the gap. They ran further, ducking and leaping over branches as they ran.

"It's a bear! It's gotta be a bear!" Mike cried out.

Hardly reassured, Jess stopped, looking in dismay at the path splitting. A steep hill to their left offered a shortcut while the other was the actual path. Mike nodded to her and took off towards the shortcut. She followed at once and they began climbing the slope. Mike helped Jess up several times until they finally reached the top and began to run for the cabin, now right in front of them. They climbed the small set of steps onto the porch and Mike reached the door. Jess, however, tripped, dropping the key.

"Jess!" Mike cried, turning sharply.

She struggled to her feet, gesturing to the key. Getting the message, Mike grabbed the key and hurried and tried to unlock the door, urging Jess on as she got up and joined him. They managed to get inside and close the door behind them, locking it.

Fighting to catch their breaths, Jess shook her head. "Holy crap, I feel like I just ran a marathon!" she wheezed out.

Mike laughed lightly. "I think we kinda did."

"Was it a bear?"

Mike shrugged. "Yeah, gotta be. Things are crazy fast."

Looking out the window worriedly, Jess muttered, "I mean, I didn't see it, but..."

Trying to calm her down, Mike spoke confidently. "Hey, that thing's not gonna come barging in, I promise."

Jess turned to him, skeptical. "How can you be sure?"

"'Cause I'm pretty sure that bears don't know how to open cabin doors."

"Well, I've seen them open car doors." Jess stated.

Mike was incredulous of that. "What? Where?"

"On...the internet."

Mike nodded slowly. "Really? Okay... Well, this isn't the internet, Jess! Alright? This is real life! And I promise you that no bear or anything else is gonna open that cabin door."

Jess sighed. "I guess you're right. Okay. I'm almost feeling relaxed again. Almost."

She attempted to flick the lights on, but they didn't work. Muttering to herself, she moved to the sofa and sat down, rubbing her arms.

"Brr, this is not the cozy chalet that I was promised, Mike."

Mike nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's a bit drafty or something, right?"

"Well, there is a fireplace." Jess stated, gesturing to it.

Smirking confidently, Mike leaned on the back of the sofa. "We don't need a fire to heat things up."

"Michael." Jess admonished him. "I am a lady and a lady needs a proper romantic setting. A lady would like to cuddle up with her man by a nice cozy fire bathed in atmospheric mood lighting."

"It'll get plenty toasty once we're rubbing up against each other..."

"Mike?" Jess repeated, emphasizing her point. "Fire...and mood lighting."

With an indulgent sigh, Mike nodded. "Yes...M'lady."

He began to search for matches to help light the fire.

As he searched, Jess checked her pockets and suddenly began to panic. "Oh, shit. Fuck, Mike!"

"What?"

"Ahhhhh, oh crap!" Jess complained.

"What?" Mike repeated.

"Where is it?!"

"What, what's wrong?" he tried to get her to tell him.

"Gone. It's gone, okay?" she groaned.

"Jess, slow down." he calmly told her. "What is gone?"

Jess wasn't for calming down, however. "My freakin' phone, Sherlock!"

Immediately, Mike checked under the sofa and around with the flashlight.

"You can't find it?"

"Crap, no!" she said, before realizing, "I must have dropped it outside."

"Ah...shit..."

Jess turned to him. "I can't lose my phone. My parents will kill me!"

"You can always get a new one..." Mike suggested.

"That's, like, my fourth one this year."

Grimacing, Mike nodded. "Okay, okay. Well, I'll help you look for it."

"It's gotta be outside." Jess reiterated.

Mike sighed. "Yeah... I don't think we wanna go out there right now with the bear... or whatever it is..."

Jess conceded his point and sat back down while Mike resumed his search, although she did mutter to herself, "I just wish you hadn't gotten me completely soaking wet. It's probably fallen into the water and doesn't even work now."

"Jess, I'm sorry, okay?"

She shrugged and Mike sighed. He found a few interesting things in the cabin, most notably, a book on Native American beliefs, which explained the meaning of the carving that they had seen earlier.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones to meet the friendly neighborhood terror bears." he informed Jess.

She shook her head. "That does not make me feel any better."

Mike nodded, indicating that he felt the same.

Finally, he found the matches and grinned. "Lookie-lookie, who's gonna fire up some nookie?"

Jess rolled her eyes. "You've been dying to use that line since we got here, haven't you?"

Mike just laughed and headed towards the fireplace. A small electric lantern was situated on the floor before it. He smirked and turned it on, taking care of the mood lighting. He then got to work, putting the wood in the fireplace and lighting it.

Grinning, he stood up, turning to Jess. "Man one, fire zero."

Jess clapped her hands with a grin. "Very nice. Bravo."

"Alright, my lady, what comes next?" Mike queried.

"I think...well..." Jess began, surprisingly hesitant, "I wish we had some booze..."

Mike faltered slightly, surprised. "Uh...well, if I'd know that ahead of time-"

Jess sighed. "I don't know...I'm kinda just...Not feelin' it yet."

Mike couldn't deny that this worried him. It was so unlike Jess to act this way. He began to wonder as he sat next to her on the sofa, "Am I...doing something wrong?"

"No...no, no, no." she replied quickly. "I mean... I thought that you were one way but you're kinda another way. Does that make sense? It's not your fault…"

Mike nodded slowly. While he had his doubts about her, especially after what had happened on the way to the cabin, he did want to make an effort to comfort Jess.

Doing his best to try and explain, he spoke softly. "Jess, I really like you. Whoever you think I am... Well... Just give me a chance and I will show you what you need."

Jess smiled at that. "Well... I'm liking your confidence."

There was a brief pause, then Jess suddenly seemed to tense. "Mike... The shutters."

"What about them?"

"Umm... close them, please?" she explained.

Mike shook his head. "There's no one out there." he tried to explain.

"I feel like someone's watching us. I don't like it..."

"Jess, really." he tried to reassure her. "It's fine-"

But she persisted, "I really don't like it."

"Hooo-kay." he replied, standing up. "Shutters it is."

Mike was starting to get annoyed with Jess. She was being picky and overly demanding. But this was also cause for concern, since she had never acted this way toward him before.

He approached the shutters and began closing them, looking out the window as he did so. He paused only briefly, thinking that he saw something, some sort of shadow moving in the trees, but dismissed it as his imagination.

_'You're still freaked out from whatever chased you here, don't worry about it.'_ he tried to tell himself.

With that, he finished closing the shutters and returned to Jess.

He smiled and gestured. "Voila. Shutters are shuttered. Now where were we?"

By now, he had sat back on the sofa, moving closer to Jess. She gently pushed him away, however, sighing.

"I'm sorry... Ugh... I'm sorry, I think I'm a little freaked out and it's hard for me to, like, keep this up, and-"

"What? Keep what up?" Mike asked, a little startled.

"Look... I act all super confident and like a total sexy babe, but underneath, I gotta be honest..." Jess explained, looking rather uncomfortable. "I'm really kinda insecure."

Mike couldn't deny it, but he was surprised at this admission, especially considering everything that he already knew about Jess and this not being one of them. They had only been together for a couple of months, since he had spent most of his time with Hannah over the past year before he started dating Jess, but Mike was now starting to wonder if he really knew what kind of girl Jess really was.

Still, he shook his head, doing his best to reassure her. "Jess, you've gotta be kidding me."

"What?"

He grinned and explained, "You've got nothing to be insecure about."

"Oh, you have no idea." she scoffed.

"Sure I do. You're just like me and everyone else. We're all insecure!" he explained, before grinning. "But you know how to handle yourself. You might call it a front but, it's still real."

"Yeah." she replied, a small smile forming. "I guess I do."

"Yeah, and that 'front', as you put it, is super fucking hot." he continued.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He grinned even wider. "Hell yeah, it is."

Jess laughed, her confidence restored. "Come here. Maybe I know how to handle you, too."

"I am definitely ready to be handled."

With that reply, they soon began making out, undressing, and before long, Mike was down to his white undershirt and jeans while Jess had reduced her clothing to just her jeans and the ivory white T-shirt that she wore beneath her jacket and top. But due to Mike's doubts about Jess being the right girl for him still fresh in his mind, his heart just didn't feel like it was into what they were about to do.

Just then, a loud crashing noise got their attention, causing them to break apart.

"Wha?"

"Huh?" Jess gasped. "Mike, what is that?!"

"I don't know!" he responded at once.

"Okay... Well, go and find out now, please!" she hissed, sounding scared.

Mike nodded slowly, standing up from the couch and pulling on his socks and shoes before making his way to the bedroom. The window was broken and something was lying on the floor, playing a song. Mike picked it up. It was Jess' phone.

"It's your phone!" he called out, turning.

She was now standing in the bedroom's doorway, still clad in just her jeans and white shirt.

"What? How is it my phone?" she replied, incredulously.

Mike shrugged. "I don't know, it just...came through the window!"

Jess suddenly glared, enraged, as she plucked her phone from Mike's hand.

"Oh for fuck's sake. God DAMMIT!"

"What?"

Jess then gestured outside, retorting angrily, "Those goddamned assholes probably followed us out here to fuck with us, and just when we were getting down to business!"

With that, despite the cold, Jess stormed through the cabin to the front door, opened it, and stepped out onto the porch. Unaware that she was being watched by the same thing from earlier.

HEY! YEAH, PRICKS! THAT MEANS YOU! I KNOW you're out there! The FUCK are you trying to do?!" she screamed into the night. "You want to ruin our fun THAT BAD?! WELL GUESS WHAT? You can't! You can't ruin our good time! Because Michael and I are gonna FUCK! That's right! We are going to have SEX! And it's gonna be HOT! SO ENJOY IT! Because I know WE'RE GOING TO!"

Shaking her head, she turned, heading back inside, slamming the door.

"Oh, give me a break." she muttered.

Standing by the door, arms crossed, she looked over at Mike. He sighed and began to approach her.

Suddenly, something broke through the door's window, grabbing Jess by her head. She screamed in sheer terror as the thing that grabbed her yanked her forcefully through the broken window part of the door and out into the frigid night, her screams still echoing horribly as Mike witnessed the whole thing in utter shock and terror.


	9. Chapter 8

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 8  
**

Walking through the darkened lodge with only a lit candlestick being held by Ashley for light, she and Chris began making their way to the staircase which would lead down to the library.

"Do you really think that Sam was communicating with us?" Chris asked at last, breaking the tense silence.

Ashley shook her head, groaning. "I don't know. I don't know if I wish she was or I wish she wasn't."

Chris sighed but then shrugged. "I guess we should find out."

They began to head down the stairs. As they did, Ashley bit her lip, looking around, just in case they ran into Josh. She still felt the need to apologize to him.

"Josh looked so freaked out at the séance." she commented.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, I mean, he looked like he was keeping it together, but..."

Ashley bowed her head guiltily and asked, "Do you think we shouldn't have mentioned Sam?"

"I mean, it's why we came back up here." Chris replied, apparently trying to reassure her.

"Yeah..." Ashley agreed, before pointing out, "But not to, like, have a séance. Maybe we went too far."

In the room before the library, something caught Ashley's eye: she thought that she saw light. The floorboard was on a hinge, so she lifted it up. Beneath it was a vent with light coming through. It was electric lighting, despite the power being out. She and Chris both agreed that something was seriously wrong with that and quickly left it.

They soon entered the library and began looking around for the proof that was apparently there. This led to a close call as they passed a bookshelf, which suddenly seemed to launch a couple of books at their heads, narrowly missing them.

"Jesus, look out!" Chris yelled, doing his best to shield Ashley.

Ashley was understandably freaked out. "Ah, Chris! Holy crap..."

"Are you okay?"

"I think so." she replied, before looking at the bookshelf and pointing. "Look."

"What?" Chris turned and noticed something, too.

"There was something behind the books. What is that?" she queried, as they began to move closer.

"Is it a button?" Chris wondered aloud.

They got close enough to see that it was, indeed, a button, and Ashley narrowed her eyes, tilting her head in confusion.

"Why would there be a button?"

Chris shrugged. "That's a good question."

Sadly, that did not ease Ashley's nerves in any way. Sighing, she turned to him. "Well, should I push it?"

"That's what buttons are for, I guess." Chris replied, warily.

Nodding slowly, Ashley reached out and then pressed the button, stepping back in shock as the bookcase and wall behind it began to move to reveal a secret passage.

"Whoa." Chris gasped, amazed. "Panel opens, head explodes."

Ashley, however, was more frustrated. "What the... Are we, like, in a movie right now?!"

Shifting a little, recalling all of the spooks so far, Chris replied, "If we are, I hope it's a rom-com."

Smiling a little at that, Ashley privately agreed with those hopes, before remarking, "Leave it to the Washingtons to have secret passages in their house."

"Maybe they didn't even know." Chris pointed out. "This place is super old."

They both stood on the threshold, unsure, and feeling unnerved. Finally, Ashley voiced what they were both wondering.

"So...should we take a look?"

Chris gestured. "After you."

"No." Ashley replied at once. "No, nonono...you go."

She practically thrust the candlestick into his hand.

"Gee, thanks." he replied, sarcastically.

Nevertheless, he entered the passage, noting that it wasn't all that large. The main object of interest was a desk at the far side. Specifically, what was on the desk. Picking it up, Chris found himself looking at a portrait photo of Hannah and Beth.

"Well?" Ashley queried.

Chris, however, was even more shocked as he turned it over to find, written on the back of the photo, a threatening note, promising to harm Hannah. Whoever wrote it remarked that Hannah should have died with Beth instead of Sam, and that Hannah would finally get what's coming to her.

"Whoa, is this..?"

"What did you find?" Ashley insisted.

"Holy cow..." Chris gasped, thinking how best to approach this, then finally speaking. "Now, Ash... I don't want to freak you out, but...but look at this."

As he spoke, he emerged from the passage to join her again.

"WHAT?" she asked. Just hearing him say that freaked her out. "CHRIS, what IS that?"

"I...I think this might be what the spirit board wanted us to find." he admitted.

"The clue?"

"Yeah, it's a letter." he explained.

Ashley reached out, asking to see it. She read it as Chris explained about it being a threat.

Reading the threat, Ashley gasped, horror filling her face. "Chris, this is serious." she burst out. "We need to find Josh right now."

Nodding, Chris followed her as they left the library, only to be freaked out by a door opening that had been locked previously, with nobody there to open it. Despite their nerves now practically being on a hair trigger, they followed the new path, which, if Chris' memory of the lodge served him right, would lead to the kitchen eventually.

"Do you think that someone was actually after Hannah and Beth?" Ashley asked, worriedly.

"If so, that would be...really messed up." Chris replied, even sounding a little unsure himself.

While exploring this new area, Chris spotted a letter. Reading it, he noted that it seemed to be talking about a dispute with local Native American tribes. On the back, he saw a note from Melinda Washington.

"Looks like this was written by Josh's mom."

Ashley nodded in confirmation, remembering what she had heard. "Yeah, she's really making an effort to set things right with some native tribe or something."

Chris had heard this, too. "Yeah, the bad karma goes back a long way."

Putting the letter down, they continued on their path, stopping in the last room before the kitchen. Chris turned to Ashley, who was worried all over again upon seeing his expression.

"So, um..." he began, before finally spilling it. "I've just been thinking about something that I saw earlier with Hannah..."

"What?"

"There was this wanted poster, like, full-on western style, you know?"

Ashley shrugged. "So?"

"And Hannah really thought that there was someone following her around..."

"So...so what?" Ashley replied, suddenly getting nervous again. "You're saying that there's some criminal up on the mountain with us?"

Chris nodded. That was just what he was thinking. There was more to come, too.

He remembered more and quickly told Ashley, "There was a message...on this answering machine I found and...it was from this Sergeant saying that there was this guy who had just gotten out of prison and there was nothing he could do-"

"What do you mean?" she asked, panic beginning to creep into her voice.

"He was saying it like...like a warning." Chris finished, before then realizing, "I mean, maybe that was whoever was down in the basement before. Remember, under the floorboards in the library? The light? That guy I told you about?"

Ashley wracked her brain. Chris had told her a lot of things as they prepared to go to the library. "Wait, wait, wait." she insisted. "What guy?!"

"The guy who threatened the Washingtons. He said that he wanted to take revenge by burning the whole place down." Chris explained. "And I found that crazy psycho letter..."

Ashley groaned and turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. "Chris, if this is your way of trying to make me feel better... you're fired." she said, bluntly.

Chris was about to reply when the door to the kitchen banged and they suddenly heard a scream.

"You hear that?" Chris gasped, turning at once.

Ashley recognized it and cried out, "That was Josh!"

Chris hurried forwards. "It's coming from the kitchen!"

They called out to him, Chris telling him to hold on as Ashley opened the kitchen door. Suddenly, she was yanked into the room and the door slammed shut. Ashley began screaming and suddenly crying out in pain.

Panicking, Chris tried to open the doors. "Ashley?! Ash! What's going on? Lemme in!"

But the door was locked or jammed. Ashley grunted in pain again.

"Ashley, are you okay?!" he cried out.

Shaking his head, he began trying to force the door open, ramming into it and, on his third try, he broke through, stumbling onto the ground. He struggled to his feet and saw Ashley, out cold on the floor in front of him.

"Ash?" he whispered, before panicking. "ASH! HEY!"

He cried out as a man, dressed in a strange jumper suit and wearing a white demonic clown mask with demonic teeth and red along the upper lip, acting as an exposed gum, suddenly appeared in his field of vision and punched him right in the face, knocking him out cold, too.

The masked man then turned and began to drag Ashley's unconscious form away. Later, he stood on the landing of the steps leading upstairs and listened carefully. He could hear the sounds of another person moving upstairs, in the bathroom. Smirking beneath his mask, he lit the candle on its holder next to the landing and turned, walking away.


	10. Chapter 9

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 9**

Recovering from the sudden attack on Jessica, Mike darted forwards, still holding his lantern.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, what the fuck?!" he cried out.

He grabbed the hunting rifle that he had spotted next to the door when they entered and darted outside the cabin, leaping down into the snow.

"JESSICA!" he yelled, before noting the footprints and drag marks in the snow. "Oh my god, oh my god..."

He took off running, following the trail.

"JESS! Jess..." he cried out, listening, praying that he could hear her respond, even if it was only a scream.

His heart was hammering, the blood pounded in his head, the wind rushed past his ears. All Mike could think about was saving Jess from whatever or whoever had grabbed her. As such, the cold barely affected him, not even when he stopped to contemplate his choices, for he saw two routes ahead. One was shorter but more risky. Jumping over some fallen metal tubing to cross the river, or following the path around. For Mike, it was a no-brainer and he began to leap from metal tube to metal tube until he finally crossed the river and took off running again.

"JESS! JESSICA! JESSICAAA!" he cried out as he continued to run.

But his frantic searching was still getting no response. He stopped when he reached a ledge and looked around. It was dark, hard to see, and the ground was some distance below. Gritting his teeth, he set his lantern down and aimed the hunting rifle, trying to use the scope to see the path below. He searched without any result and began to panic.

"Jesus, fuck...fuck..." he whispered, but then stopped. "JESS, NO!"

He spotted her, a little worse for wear. Dirt had smeared onto the back of her jeans and arms and she was frantically crawling away from something. But then, whatever it was, as Mike couldn't see it through the scope, grabbed her and began pulling her away.

"Agh, NO!" she screamed, before pleading loudly, "MICHAAEELLLL, HELP ME! HELP ME!"

She was yanked away out of sight, still screaming. Mike leapt to his feet, picking up the lantern and shouldering the rifle again. He wasted no time and jumped down, sliding down the cliff.

"Holy SHIIIT! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! URGH!"

The whole way down, he cried out, managing to grab a branch on the way down to slow his fall. It broke, but allowed him to land on his feet. He quickly retrieved the rifle and lantern and kept running.

"Keep going, keep going." he told himself.

His adrenaline pounded, making him move faster, ducking under low hanging tree branches and leaping over protruding tree roots. He silently cursed, since he could no longer hear Jess screaming. His only source of finding her was the unusual footprints and drag marks still fresh in the snow.

He stopped again briefly as he found himself at a chasm. There were two ways across. He could either shimmy across the edges, or use the rock platforms to jump across.

'Okay, c'mon... Fuck it. Jess' life is at stake.' he told himself and threw caution to the wind.

It was a startling experience, but he managed to make the jumps, some of them only just. Once on the other side, he wasted no time and resumed pursuit, once more picking up the trail.

He shook his head as he pursued. 'There's no way that this is a freaking bear, but what else is so fast or strong? This doesn't... I swear, if it is some person, I am gonna really lose it.'

Growling and urging himself onwards, he soon stopped again. He was standing at the top of a cliff, overlooking an old abandoned mine building. Looking at the path below, Mike made up his mind at once and began to slide down the ledge, taking care to arrest his fall and slow his descent. Soon, he reached the bottom, landing on his feet. He picked up his rifle and lantern again and began to make his way towards the mine building. The trail stopped there, which worried him.

"HELP ME!" Jess suddenly screamed.

"Come on, shit! Shit! Shit, shit!" Mike growled as he entered the mine building.

Following her screams, he tried to find her.

"Oh no! Michael!"

"JESSICA!" he yelled back, trying to get her attention.

Her scream this time was more focused, telling him that she had heard. "HELP ME!"

"JESSICA!" he called out again, but this time, getting no reply. "JESS!"

Instantly, panic settled within him and he hurried through the building, descending a set of stairs when he found them. His heart leapt into his mouth when he heard Jess shriek again.

"AGH! NO! MICHAAEELLLL, HELP ME! HELP ME!"

She was pleading and she wasn't scared, no, she was clearly terrified.

"JESSICA, I'M COMING!" he called out, trying to reassure her, but she continued to scream. "JESSICA! JESSICA!"

Hearing him, she cried out, pleading again, "HELP ME! Oh no, Michael!"

"JESS!"

He reached the bottom of the steps and rounded a corner, slowly approaching the center of the room. His eyes widened in horror. An old elevator was stationed there and lying in it, covered in blood with several gashes to her face and chest, as well as her arms and legs, was Jess. It was clear that she had been attacked. Whatever attacked her only sought physical damage, however. For, although stained with blood and dirt, her clothes were still on and not disturbed in the slightest except by what would be expected from her struggling. But she wasn't moving. Mike fell to his knees next to her.

"NO! OH, GOD! Nooo... Jessica... Oh god!" he cried. He was too late.

But then she suddenly gasped and his eyes widened. "Jess! Jess! Are you okay?!"

She attempted to move, but clearly did not have the strength. Even turning her head seemed like a chore.

"Help..." she wheezed.

Mike began to reach for her when suddenly, there was a loud, metallic snap and the elevator dropped into the depths of the mines.

"JESSICAAAAA!"

Mike stared in dismay as her body vanished from sight. He had come so close and now she was gone. Head bowed, he nearly collapsed into tears, when he noticed a strange shape forming a shadow above him.

"Huh? What the fuck?" he mumbled as he looked upwards.

He could see the shape now. It was clearly a person, a figure looking down at him. A sudden rage then gripped Mike and a red mist descended. This had to be the person responsible for what happened to Jess. At that point, only one thing registered in Mike's mind: vengeance.

Reacting at once in blind anger, Mike raised the rifle, taking aim at the figure above, and firing. Mike wasn't exactly sure what happened. Either he missed or the figure avoided the shot. Either way, he shouldered the rifle and began to run up the stairs.

'Son of a bitch. You're not getting away from me!' he thought, furious.

Running up the stairs, he very nearly fell through a hole in the floor, but leapt over it at the last second. He stopped only when he reached the elevator shaft and began to climb it. Seeing a ledge above him, he leapt up to it, only for it to break. He let out a yelp, but quickly caught a lower ledge. Gritting his teeth, he struggled upwards, climbing still, moving as quickly as possible.

'Shit, shit, c'mon!'

Urging himself onwards, although the adrenaline was slowly wearing out now, he began climbing up the right side of the wall, using various protruding bits of metal as hand and foot holds. Gritting his teeth, he jumped over the gap and finally landed on the ledge that the figure had been standing on. Right away, he saw that it was a tunnel. Towards the end of a tunnel was a male figure walking away.

Mike pulled out the rifle. 'It's him. That's gotta be the guy... This is for Jess.'

He pulled the trigger, only for the gun to jam. Mike's anger gave way to dismay at that and he cursed angrily.

"What? Come on, come ON!" he growled, throwing the now useless gun aside. "Piece of shit..."

Looking up, he saw the man jumping down a hole and a gate beginning to close.

"Christ!" he yelled, as he took off running. "Gotta make it!"

He dropped and slid along the ground, only just making it past the gate before it fully closed. Catching his breath, Mike struggled upright.

'Dammit. Gotta keep after him, can't let what happened to Jess...'

He shook his head. He had to focus on following and finding out who this guy was, then he'd get his revenge. Spotting an older style lantern, Mike quickly claimed it, turning it on with his lighter before picking it up and following the path that the figure took. He leapt down the hole and made his way out of the mines and into the snow.

"Oh, fuck." he muttered as the cold finally bit at him.

But then he saw it. A strange, large building was in the distance. He could just make out the man he saw earlier, walking up the path towards it.

"Jesus..." he whispered to himself. "The fuck is that place?"

Slowly and carefully, he began to follow the path himself.


	11. Chapter 10

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 10  
**

Slowly, with his head pounding from the blow he had received, Chris recovered consciousness.

"Ungh, ugh... What the fu..." he groaned.

He slowly stumbled to his feet, picking up a flashlight that had been placed next to him.

"Oh no..." he choked out, remembering what had happened. "Ashley!"

He immediately looked around, seeing no sign of her. He began to search, looking around wildly, using the flashlight to aid him.

"Ash...ASH?!"

He exited the kitchen and spotted something on the floor. Picking it up, he saw that it was Ashley's coin purse.

"Not good..." he muttered. "Not good at all."

He hurried onwards, searching all the more frantically after seeing a horrific sight: bloodstains decorating a wall that were recent. He began to fear for Ashley's life.

'Please don't let her be dead, please...' he thought, desperately.

He soon spotted a door that led outside, which was wide open. He hurried out and began calling out as he began to follow the path.

"Ash! ASHLEY! Ashley! Anyone out there? Ashley? Ash...? ASH?!"

But all of his calls went unanswered, only increasing his panic.

He came to a fork in the road and initially tried to turn left, only for a mannequin to spring up, clad in a scarecrow mask.

"WHOA!" he cried out, utterly aghast. "What in the hell? Who would do this?"

Looking past it, he was greeted by the unwelcome sight of a severed pig's head. Shivering in disgust, he turned and followed the other path, heading towards the old shed. He quietly entered, not seeing anything, save for what the light from his flashlight showed him.

He bit his lip as he slowly walked. 'What is going on here? Wait, that's... That's...'

He could hear quiet sobbing and immediately recognized the person crying as Ashley. Just then, a cage dangling from the roof fell, nearly landing on him.

He leapt back. "HEY, GOD DAMMIT!"

"Chris…?" Ashley called out, hearing him yell.

Reacting at once, Chris looked around wildly. "Ash, I'm here!"

"Please..." she choked out through sobs. "Help me..."

Trying to follow her voice, Chris spoke again. "I'm coming, Ash. Just keep talking to me! What happened?"

"Chris, he tied me up..." Ashley sobbed. "I can't move!"

Even more worried than ever now, terrified for her safety, Chris spoke again. "Ashley, I'm gonna get you out of this, don't worry!"

"I'm really scared, Chris!" she replied, her voice trembling. "Hurry, please! Oh god, Chris! You have to get me out of here before he comes back!"

Chris continued to follow her voice until suddenly, a light flared, revealing a horrific scene.

Chris gaped in sheer horror at the sight before him. A mesh cage prevented him from getting any closer. There was a small gate set in the cage on his right hand side, but it was clearly locked. Before him was a lever, in the middle position, it could be turned left or right. What disturbed him most was that on the panel behind the lever, two pictures of two very familiar people were shown. Looking up, he saw Ashley, and next to her, out cold, was Josh. They were attached to a large metal board, held up by their arms, secured in chains. Beneath them were mine cart tracks which joined into a single track. What chilled Chris to the bone, however, was the mine cart itself, sitting at the end of the track. On it, situated so that it would be at waist height of the two captives, was a coldly gleaming circular saw.

"Unnghh...Chris..." Ashley spoke weakly, squinting against the light. "Are you there?"

Before Chris could respond, another voice, distorted, spoke up, coming through speakers.

"Hello."

Ashley screamed and Chris jumped, looking around.

"And thank you all for joining me." it continued.

Freaking out now, Ashley cried out to her fellow captive, "JOSH! Oh my GOD! JOSH, WAKE UP!"

"Huh?" Josh groaned, as he finally recovered, horror dawning as he realized his position. "What…? What is this?"

Acting frantically, Chris tried to open the door, to force it, but to no avail.

Detached and casual, the distorted voice continued, "Tonight, we're going to conduct a little experiment. A sort of test."

Just hearing those words struck fear into the hearts of all three of them.

Trying to struggle against his bonds, Josh cried out, "Ashley, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know…!" she screamed, totally freaking out.

Chris found himself breathing heavily, his heart thumping, terror coursing through his veins. What was going on? Was he going to watch his friends die?

"Now, for this experiment," the voice continued, "We'll need the cooperation of our two test subjects... Joshua and Ashley..."

"Holy shit. Oh my god..." Josh gasped, as he realized with dawning horror what that meant.

Ashley also realized it and took another panic attack.

The voice then revealed the true horror of its plan. "But we're going to need one more brave participant to help decide...which subject will live and which will die."

"OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!" Ashley screamed, completely losing it.

Josh, sadly, wasn't much more composed himself. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET ME DOWN FROM HERE, YOU MANIAC!"

"Please, please, please, everyone calm down." the voice stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's all very simple."

Chris shook his head. 'Simple? What's fucking simple about this, psycho?'

Chris realized then that this person had to be the masked man who had attacked him and Ashley earlier.

The psycho then gave his instructions. "Christopher, you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do...is choose who you will save!"

Chris froze. This whack-job was forcing him to choose something so horrific. He had to kill either Ashley or Josh in order to save the other.

Ashley broke into a blind panic again, just as she began recovering from the last time. "Oh no... Please! This can't be happening...! Oh god, oh god, oh god...! This isn't right..."

"Shit... Shit... No!" Josh cried out, before forcing himself to calm down. "Okay...okay...okay...okay. This is gonna be okay..."

Chris paced back and forth, panicking, as the stress of what he had just been told hit him hard.

"Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap." he muttered to himself, frantically.

Josh tried to reason with him while Ashley pleaded desperately.

"Dude... Buddy... Let's just think about this for a minute..." he said as calmly as he could.

Ashley began crying in despair. "Oh my god! CHRIS! YOU CAN'T LET ME DIE!"

"Just, just, just..." Chris stammered, feeling dizzy from too much pressure. "Gimme a second, I, I can't think straight. Shit..."

They watched him frantically as he thought about it. He thought as quickly as he could about everything, his friendship with Josh, his crush on Ashley, too much was whirling through his mind. He soon made his choice, however. No matter what he chose, it would be gut-wrenching to him, but he went with his heart.

"Ashley, I'll get you out of this! I won't let you die!" he cried.

Ashley's relief was palpable. "Oh God, thank you! Oh, thank you, thank you!"

"NO! Please no!" Josh cried out, shock and anger waging war over his features.

Hand trembling, Chris turned the lever and the saw blade started up. The tracks points switched and the cart began to slowly move.

Seeing the path that the cart was taking, Josh cried out, "AAAHHH! NO, CHRIS!"

The Psycho spoke again. Chris could almost hear his grin. "Ah...I see. You have chosen...to save Ashley."

"Oh...oh no..." Chris stammered, unable to believe that he had to make such a choice and now watch the consequences. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

"OH GOD, JOSH!" Ashley screamed, realizing what was about to happen.

Freaking out entirely, Josh began screaming at him. Chris spoke across him at the same time while the saw blade edged ever closer.

"I thought we were FRIENDS, man! I thought we were FRIENDS! Why would you DO THIS?!" Josh yelled desperately.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! THIS IS MADNESS! PLEASE!"

The saw blade was nearly reaching Josh and he cried out again. "NO! OH GOD, WHAT DID I DO?!"

But he never finished his statement, for at that moment, he just screamed as the saw started to cut him open.

"Stop it, you can't do this! Please, no!" Chris screamed. "Oh, Josh! Josh, I'm so sorry!"

Hearing Josh's screams, Ashley continued to freak out, eyes clenched shut. "OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Josh only stopped screaming once the saw finished its bloody work, and just like that, it was over. Ashley, now spattered across the left side of her face and clothes with the blood, began to turn her head.

Not wanting her to witness the horror that was nearly making him throw up, Chris spoke sharply. "No, no, no, D-don't look, Ashley! Don't look!"

"Why can't I look, Chris? Please tell me he's okay, please...!" Ashley pleaded, yet conceded to Chris' words, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

At that moment, the gate opened and Chris rushed in. He quickly got to work, trying hard not to look at Josh's corpse for longer than he had to.

"I'm coming, Ash. I'm gonna get you..." he said as he began untying her. She wept, either in terror or relief, or maybe both, he couldn't say. "Shhh, stop, please. Come on, come on, let's get you down... Come on...we're gonna get you out of here…"

Ashley finally felt the ground beneath her feet and Chris began escorting her away.

'He saved me, and he and Josh have been friends for years...' she couldn't help but think to herself. 'But he chose to save...me.'

She opened her eyes, only to scream in dismay at the sight of Josh's mangled body. Chris quickly covered her eyes and began escorting her from the shed, sobbing and shaking. They kept going, both in tears and both traumatized by what they had just been a part of.

"Chris, Ashley!" they heard Matt's voice calling to them.

Looking up, they spotted him and Emily rushing over to them. Emily's eyes instantly widened when she got a good look at Ashley.

"Blood?!" she gasped. "Whose blood is that, Ash? Chris, what happened?"

Matt was immediately worried, asking if they were okay.

"J-Josh..." Chris choked out through his tears.

"Josh? What, dude?" Matt asked softly, seeing Chris' distress.

Breathing shakily, Chris admitted, "He's dead... Right in front of us, man."

Both Matt and Emily froze at that.

"What are you talking about?" Emily demanded at once.

"There's a maniac..." Chris choked out.

"Maniac?" Matt echoed, his worry now increasing tenfold.

Emily shook her head. "Oh my god, we gotta get outta here."

Matt, however, was confused. "I don't understand. What happened?"

Chris tried to compose himself, but couldn't. In the end, he gave a broken and choked account of what had happened in the shed. "There's a maniac! And...he was there, there was a saw...and it was either him or Ash and I didn't know what to do!"

Ashley sobbed at that and Chris continued.

"Cut right through him and... Spilling out fucking everywhere."

Emily reacted in horror and utter disgust. "WHAT?! Oh my god, Chris, what?!"

Chris whimpered as he added, "I-I killed him! I-I killed him..."

He kept lamenting that one fact while Emily and Matt tried to calm him down, Emily still insistent on going to get help.

"We're gonna figure this out, man." Matt said, trying to reassure Chris.

"Matt, we need to go get help. Now." Emily firmly said.

"Em..." he replied, shaking his head. "We should look for the others first."

Shaking her head, Emily shot back, "Mike and Jess are off 69-ing each other and who knows where Hannah is."

Chris then realized to his horror, "I think she's still in the lodge."

He didn't need to finish, knowing that she was there, all alone.

"Fine, fine." Emily replied, keeping a cool head. "You're right. Get everyone else together. But if there's a maniac running around, I think that we need to get some help, too, right? Not just wait around?"

Matt wasn't so sure. "But what about...?"

Emily was vehement, however. "Why are we still talking about this? Let's go!"

Finally recovering their composure enough to agree, Chris and Ashley immediately headed back to the lodge while Emily and Matt began heading for the cable car station, determined to find anything that would aid them in sending for help.

Little did Ashley and Chris know that Hannah wouldn't be waiting for them in the lodge.


	12. Chapter 11

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 11**

Mike crouched by a wall, near the building that he had seen. He ached all over from his constant running. The cold bit into his body and he was still trying to process what he had seen back in the mines with Jess.

"Jesus." he muttered, ducking down before he was seen.

The stranger that he had followed from the mines, the one that he was sure was behind what had happened to Jess, was walking up the path towards the building. Mike had heard growling and, peeking over the wall again, saw that the stranger wasn't alone. Two wolves were with him and the stranger began to turn his head.

"Dammit." Mike muttered, ducking again.

He watched as the stranger seemed to close a door on the side of the building before moving to the front of the building and entering.

"Alright..." Mike muttered to himself, "Let's get a closer look."

He grunted, trying to ignore the pain as he climbed over the wall, still carrying his lantern. Walking towards the building, his mind replayed those last horrifying moments again and again.

'Dammit, Jess. I'm so sorry, I...I...I swear that I'll get this guy. He will pay for what he did to you.'

He paused by the door and wondered if he should risk it. He then decided to check what the stranger had been doing first, in case it offered an alternative. He soon figured out where he was when he came across a sign on the building, labelling it as condemned, yet also identifying it as a sanatorium.

"Awesome. Why wouldn't I end up on the creepiest place on planet Earth?" Mike remarked sarcastically.

He reached where the stranger had been and found a metal plate against the wall. Grunting and muttering in exertion, he pushed it aside to reveal, just as he had suspected, another entrance into the sanatorium, leading into the basement by the look of it. He carefully clambered in and jumped down to the floor before looking around.

"Dammit... Alright..."

He knew that he was going in blind, since the lantern was his only light source and he had no idea of the layout of the building. Still, he continued onwards, searching the building as thoroughly as he could. There wasn't much room to move about, but he saw a hole in the ceiling. If he got up to the elevated path, he could hopefully find something to use to climb through it and that would hopefully take him into the main building.

Careful searching turned up a barrel, which he set the lantern on, and, preparing himself, he began pushing it until it was in the perfect position. Retrieving the lantern, he climbed onto the barrel and up onto the elevated path. He couldn't believe his luck when he found solid footing in the form of a broken machine on its side, right underneath the hole. He wasted no time climbing up and poking his head out of the hole, seeing his immediate surroundings.

"Whoa, that's different." he commented as he pulled himself up onto what appeared to be the main floor of the building.

The sanatorium was in complete disrepair. It was clear that some parts of it had completely collapsed. There were fallen walls and Mike was certain that some of the doors were busted. The only plus side that he could see right now was that he was out of the snow, away from the freezing cold. It helped him focus his mind on his pursuit, his determination for vengeance.

Knowing that he had to start somewhere, he approached the first door that didn't seem to be a dead end, apparently leading to the chapel, according to the sign. Peeking through a window by the door, he saw the stranger again, throwing something to the two wolves, who began eating it.

"Whoa, what the…?" Mike whispered, praying that it was an old-fashioned dog bone or animal meat and not human.

Trying the door, he found, to his frustration, that it was locked and needed a keycard of some sort. He peeked through again and saw that the stranger was gone and the wolves were just leaving. Mike had no choice now, he'd have to search wherever he could, leaving no stone unturned, to find the keycard.

Turning away from the chapel, he began his search in the very hall that he was currently in. All that his search turned up was administration notes to the sanatorium staff about the arrival of a group of miners who had been caught in a cave in at the mines. It was dated 1952 and Mike suddenly remembered the map that he had found when he and Jess had passed through a section of the mines. It detailed sections of the mine that were unstable. The notes also mentioned that the press were being forced away from the building.

Mike couldn't deny that he didn't like what he was discovering, what appeared to be a decades-old cover-up. He continued his search, all of this could wait until he found that man and made him pay.

'Gotta keep moving, c'mon, it's gotta be here somewhere.' he told himself.

However, he was once more confronted with the 1952 mine mystery when, while searching the admin office, he came across a broken camera and a partially opened safe with a wooden stake next to it.

"Whoa, someone really wanted to take a peek inside." he noted, before finishing the job.

Inside, he uncovered thirty clocking-in cards for miners. He deduced that this was the number of miners caught in the cave-in. He still couldn't understand about the broken camera, only that the damage looked deliberate. Mystery was piling upon mystery. Mike briefly considered that maybe this stranger was looking into this 1952 mystery and these were clues that he had gathered. It appeared that the sanatorium, which seemed the center of said mystery, was also, conveniently, his base.

Shaking his head, Mike reminded himself, 'But then, why attack Jess? What is he hiding? What is he up to?'

Resuming his search for the keycard, Mike began heading down the corridor towards what the signs indicated was the morgue... Just what he needed to cheer himself up.

There were still a couple of offices just before the steps leading down to the morgue that were accessible, so Mike checked them first. In the first office, he found an old newspaper that detailed an assault on a reporter, which suddenly made sense of the broken camera.

"Huh. Intrigue on Blackwood Mountain." Mike mused.

It was clear now that something was definitely being hidden here, covered up, especially when the other office yielded medical reports that did not tally with Mike's findings so far. Reports on only twelve miners, not thirty. Eighteen were unaccounted for. Perplexed, but by no means distracted, Mike made his way down the steps towards the morgue.

In the outer corridor, he came across a partially open room. Debris prevented him from actually entering, but he could see a bird sitting on a table right by the door and embedded in said table was a machete.

'Urgh, just great... Well, I think I'm gonna need a weapon. It's better than nothing.' he told himself before reaching for it.

The bird cawed and flew away while Mike was able to finally pull the machete free. Grimacing, he stuck it in his belt and continued his search of the morgue itself. Noticing an odd shape behind a curtain, he pulled aside to find a restraining chair, soaked in blood.

"Holy shit..." he gasped. "Ugh, what happened here?"

His continued exploration of the morgue offices and rooms led him to find another part of the 1952 mystery: a telegram, which seemed to indicate that there was indeed only twelve miners brought to the sanatorium, but thirty had indeed gone down into the mines during that fateful excursion, and that a massive cover-up was underway.

Mike shook his head at the fear of reporters flooding the place. 'Gee, who wouldn't want press snooping around in this paradise?'

His search led to another room, of which he could not identify its original purpose. Whatever the room used to be, it now only featured several tables and boxes and, strangely enough, a moving arm attached to a table, which jerked back and forth at regular intervals.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa?" Mike spluttered, startled, as he approached. "Is this what he was feeding them?"

He shuddered at that. Had the wolves devoured human flesh? He then saw a note attached to the hand and was curious, but he quickly quelled it. As curious as he was, he didn't really want to see what it was all about.

Shaking his head, he turned and looked around, trying to figure out where to go. Luckily, he got a hint as he approached one door: the temperature dropped. Mike recalled from various crime dramas that he sometimes watched that morgues had to be relatively cold places. It had to be through there.

Entering the morgue, he was face to face with a strange, deformed, but still human skull on a shelf.

'This place just gets better and better.' he thought sarcastically.

Continuing his search, he found, to his frustration, that the door leading out was locked and required a keycard, the same keycard that he needed for entering the chapel, too.

He growled as he turned to survey the room again. 'You've gotta be kidding.'

There was only one place that he hadn't searched...three, actually. Three body drawers, the only ones not rusted shut. Forcing himself, Mike examined them. One brought out a name tag of a man named Nicholas Bowen, the second had a death certificate for a Sarah Smith. It was clear that they were part of the 1952 mystery, especially the death certificate, which seemed to indicate that Sarah had been partially...eaten by something with very human teeth.

Opening the third drawer, Mike thought to himself, 'Okay, is drawer number three the winner?'

It was, as there was an uncovered body inside. Mike nearly threw up, especially when a rat climbed out of the corpse's mouth. Containing himself, he was able to spot just what he needed, the chapel keycard, on the body. He picked it up and turned away gratefully.

He reached the locked door again, unlocked it, and, taking the keycard with him, entered the next corridor, which appeared to be in the back part of the chapel. He began climbing the stairs when he was ambushed by one of the wolves. Crying out, he ran for his life, the wolf right on his heels, growling and snapping at him.

With a mighty effort, Mike escaped the wolf, slamming the door shut behind him. Fighting desperately for breath, pretty sure that he was going to give himself a heart attack at this rate, he realized that he was in the upper levels of the chapel and could see down below. He needed to get back to the chapel's main door. So he followed the path and climbed down a fallen staircase.

"Oh, right. Back in here." he muttered with relief.

He was back in the main entrance, steps away from the chapel's main doors. He hurried over as best as he could in his weakened state and opened them before entering.

Just then, he heard a growl and turned sharply to his left. The other wolf was there, growling at him. On instinct, Mike almost lashed out, but then told himself not to. Instead, he stepped back, holding up his hands. The wolf growled, but in a less threatening manner.

"Okay...okay..." Mike said softly. "Easy, boy. Easy, easy... That's a good boy."

He gently edged to the side and the wolf let him pass, settling itself down on the floor. Mike let out a relieved sigh and began to examine the room. His first point of interest in the rundown, rubble-filled chapel was a wooden chest, filled with bones.

"Maybe this will keep the wolves fat and happy." he said to himself, almost laughing in relief.

It seemed that his earlier concern had been wrong. Taking one of the bones, he approached the wolf and whistled, getting its attention. He held out the bone and the wolf slowly came closer before gently taking it from his hand. Mike stroked the wolf and smiled as the animal seemed much more friendly now.

Once he finished petting the wolf, Mike resumed his search around the room, no longer paranoid about being attacked from behind by the wolf. He spotted a cigar box on a table in the middle of the room and recognized the brand from the cigar stub that he had seen earlier that night.

'Ahh...the stogie stash exposed.'

Then something else caught his eye: a wall that was covered in various newspaper clippings, all of them about strange disappearances, and that did not make Mike any happier about the man he was pursuing.

One thing that he did benefit from during his search was a slightly tattered olive green army jacket. Smirking, he pulled it on, relieved for the extra heat it provided.

"So...what have we here?"

Through a gap in a mesh fence, just behind where the jacket hung, was a gun. Reaching in, Mike tried to grab it but couldn't reach it.

"Come on!"

Shaking his head, he instead reached lower, to a leg holding the shelf against the wall and, with a bit of effort, pulled it out, making the gun slide into his hand. He smiled. He still had the machete, and now had a gun. Now he felt that he had a better chance.

He approached the door at the back of the room, the only possible exit that the stranger could have taken. Mike shot the lock off and moved into the next room. Searching this area unearthed only a large stone memorial to 'the miracle men', the twelve surviving miners, still with no mention of the missing eighteen. Following the large staircase downwards into an underground area, he found another gate blocking his path and several barrels.

"Of course it's locked." he muttered.

Shoving an empty barrel out of the way, he took aim and fired, breaking the lock.

But his victory was short-lived as he tried to go through the gate, for he then saw the fire. Some of the barrels were filled with flammable liquid and some had spilled onto the floor and the sparks from shooting the lock had ignited it. Seeing this, he began to back off.

"Shit, shit, shit..." he cried out as he tried to flee. "URGH!"

He cried out as a small explosion occurred, knocking him backwards onto the ground.


	13. Chapter 12

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 12**

The Psycho smirked as he watched the cameras, his face still hidden by his white and red terror clown mask. His jumper suit allowed him plenty of easy movement, with black gloves and boots covering his hands and feet. The camera showed various areas all over them mountain, including footage of Hannah in the bath, Chris and Ashley on their way back to the lodge, and Matt and Emily just entering the area with the upper cable car station, the gate closing behind them. The Psycho reached out and casually tapped the mouse button, locking the gate. Then he stood up and left. He had an appointment to keep with his next target.

Emily and Matt walked together, mostly quiet, still processing everything that had been revealed to them.

"I can't believe that Josh is dead." Emily said at last.

Matt sighed sadly. "I can't believe how he died..."

Emily shook her head. "No, I mean, what if they were wrong?"

"What?"

She turned to him. "Maybe we should've checked the shed to see if it was really true."

Matt grimaced at that. "I don't know..." he replied hesitantly. "There are some things that, once you see them, you can never un-see them."

Emily sighed, shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I guess... But some things you have to see for yourself."

Matt shuddered. "I'll take their word for it."

Emily did not reply, apparently thinking that maybe Matt was right, or she just didn't want to press the matter further.

The duo approached the cable car station, only to note something odd, yet in a way, a blessing in disguise, what with there being a psycho running around. An axe was lodged in the door to the cable car station.

"Look, an axe..." Matt saw it first. "I'd feel better with an axe."

Emily nodded. Now they'd have a means to protect themselves. Matt pulled the axe from the door and Emily stepped forward to try and open it.

But to her surprise, it wouldn't open. "Oh, what now? This is locked, Matt!"

Matt sighed and shook his head.

"Well, break the door down, will ya?"

Matt realized right away what she meant, but he knew the risks and he had to warn her.

"Whoa, wait a second." he told her. "We start smashing shit down, then he's gonna hear us."

Emily rolled her eyes. "You got any better suggestions?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno, what about... Look!"

He spotted it right away and when Emily questioned him, he pointed it out: an ajar window.

"That's great, Matt." Emily shot back, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I can just about fit my lip balm through that little slot."

"No, come on." he urged her.

She sighed and emphasized, "You will never fit through there, big guy."

Matt groaned, but conceded her point and approached the door.

"Okay, fine. Here it goes." he muttered. "I'm gonna huff, and I'm gonna-"

"Shhh! Just do it!"

Nodding, Matt attempted to smash the door down with his axe. His second attempt caused the axe to stick and he had to wrench it free. The third blow, however, was successful and they entered the cable car station. Emily turned on the lights and they froze. The station was devastated, trashed, and to top it all off, threatening graffiti adorned the walls.

"Oh God damn..." was all that Matt could manage to say.

Emily shook her head in disbelief, uttering in a barely coherent form, "What happened?"

"This is crazy."

"We were just here, like, a few hours ago." Emily burst out. "This must have only just happened!"

Matt did not like this, not one bit. "What the fuck is going on?"

They continued to look around at the devastated cable car station. Finally, Emily came to the only possible conclusion that she could reach.

"It's gotta be the guy, the one who got to Chris and Ash...and Josh..."

Matt knew what this meant and he shared his worry with her. "He's gotta know that this is the only way out."

"Oh, don't say that." Emily groaned, shivering in fear.

It was then that Matt spotted the cable car, hanging a distance out from the station.

"Look, the cable car's all the way out there." he pointed out.

Emily looked at it and bit her lip. "Well, that's... I mean, that's not far, right? You...you can jump it?"

Matt scoffed at that. "Ha, I'm good, Em, but not that good... Flattered, though."

"Well, if you can't jump that, what are we gonna do?"

"I...I don't know." he replied honestly.

Emily looked around as Matt tried to find anything useful in the mess. Both of them commented on the decrepit state of the station while Matt finally sighted a map of the area.

"Hey, look! A fire tower..." he pointed out.

Emily, however, was more focused on other matters. "Hey Magellan, maybe we should get the cable car working and get this show on the road, huh?"

Matt sighed, but nodded and, after being freaked out by graffiti of the word 'die' repeated over a whole wall in paint that was disturbingly the same color as blood, Matt examined the control console and saw one great stumbling block: the control console was still operable, but without the keys, it wasn't going to work.

"Great, no keys, no cable car. Sooo..." Matt muttered in frustration, "Back to square one."

Emily sighed, but then her eyes widened. "What about the fire tower? On the map you found?"

Matt was a little taken aback. "Well, I guess it's an option..."

"Maybe it is has a radio or something." Emily replied hopefully. "I mean, it would, wouldn't it?"

Matt sighed and said, "I dunno, Em. That could work, but I kinda think that we should get back to the lodge for now. Everyone's been split up for so long..."

"Wait. First you want to leave the lodge, now you want to go back?!" she queried incredulously before insisting, "You don't know what to do any more than I do, Matt. And I say that we go to the fire tower and get on the radio and call for help. And that's that."

Matt simply shook his head and shrugged. "Well, if you feel that strongly about it..."

"I do, Matt. And I'm surprised that you don't!"

He insisted that he did, trying to defend himself, and together, they left the cable car station, looking for a way around. Emily spotted a way and tried to approach it: a ladder on the side of the building, but it was out of reach.

Smirking, Matt joked, "What's cookin', good lookin'?"

"Getting us out of here, Mister Meat for Brains." Emily shot back.

Laughing, Matt helped Emily up to reach the ladder and they quickly climbed down. They could now shimmy around a lower ledge of the cable car station. When they reached the bottom, Emily noticed a heavy duty flashlight and picked it up.

"Look at this bad boy. You're comin' with me, buddy." She turned it on, grinning. "And just like magic. Come on, we can totally get out of here this way!"

They began to move around the side of the building. Unfortunately, Emily misjudged the length of the ledge and nearly fell, but Matt caught her just in time.

"Whoa, you alright?"

She gasped but nodded. "Yeah, uh...thanks. Maybe, um, you should go first. To protect me."

Smiling at Emily's attempt to maintain her usual persona, despite the obvious, Matt did so and they soon reached the other side, much to the relief of both of them.

"Okay...okay..." Matt breathed, finally letting the tension release from his muscles.

Emily let out a slow breath, too. "Holy cannoli, thank God that's over."

Matt nodded and they began to head up the snowy path, searching for the best route to the fire tower.

"What if it doesn't work?" Emily asked suddenly.

"What?"

"The radio." she emphasized.

"It'll work." he tired to reassure her.

Emily shook her head. "But...if it doesn't, then we need a plan."

Matt thought for a moment. "Maybe...we can just climb down."

Emily looked at hm strangely. "Climb down what?"

"The mountain."

"Are you serious?" She almost choked on her words.

"What's the big deal? It's not like it's floating in the sky."

"It might as well be! It's pitch black out!" Emily replied, exasperated.

Trying to calm things down, Matt gently tried to reassure her. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

"Hey, hopefully, we won't have to." he said.

Emily raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "What? You think that the psychopath is just going to give up and run away?"

Matt shook his head. "No... But maybe we should find a safe spot, hole up and wait it out. It'll be a lot easier to figure this all out in the morning."

Emily sighed, but nodded. She had to admit, the late hour was catching up with her, too.

"As long as we don't hide in the lodge." she said at last. "That's where he expects us to go."

Matt nodded slowly at that and they soon reached the top of the path. Currently, they could see the fire tower, but still lacked a path to get there.

As they searched, Matt entered a covered wooden bridge, stepping on a floorboard which gave a strange creak. Sharing a look with Emily, he lifted the floorboard and pulled out a phone, one which Emily recognized at once.

"Whoa, this is Sam's phone."

Matt was incredulous. "I thought that the police, like, swept the whole area."

Emily shrugged. "Well, it looks like they missed this."

Sighing, they resumed their search, only to find themselves standing by a cliff top.

Matt grimaced, seeing that it was a hell of a long way down. "Watch where you step around here, Em."

She rolled her eyes and shot back, "Yes, Matt. Given the choice, I'd prefer not to spend my evening plummeting to my death off a snowy cliff top."

Matt's reply was cut off by an unusual screeching noise. They both spun around.

"Matt, what is that?!" Emily cried out.

Matt shook his head. "I don't know!"

But he soon got his answer, for at that moment, a horde of caribou deer emerged and closed in on them, backing them to the edge of the cliff.

"Jesus!" Emily hissed through gritted teeth. "Shit!"

Matt glanced behind them, to the long drop. "Oh...damn..."

They were trapped.


	14. Chapter 13

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 13**

Unaware of everything else that had been happening, Hannah lounged in the bath. Her iPod was situated on the wide edge, far enough away from the water to avoid any problems. Her headphones were plugged in and she was listening to Bach, Suite No. 1 prelude in G Major. She was deeply into the music and rocking her body slightly in motion with the music, eyes closed.

Therefore, she was unaware of the black-clad figure with the red and white terror clown mask standing there, watching her. He had already retrieved what he had come for, so it was time to begin. He turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Hannah only barely heard the door, but she felt the gust from it, as well as noticed the candle extinguishing from it, too. She pulled out her headphones, pushing them and her iPhone away from the ledge completely.

"Hello?" she called out. "Guys? What are you doing out there?"

She glared and shook her head, muttering, "Being creepy?"

She got no response, however. Sighing heavily, she began to climb out of the bath. "Oh...kay..."

She quickly retrieved a white towel nearby and wrapped it around herself, covering herself as best as she could. Holding a hand against the towel for added security, she first approached the mirror. Having removed them before getting into the bath, she now needed fresh contacts. Once she had the fresh contacts in and could see again, she bit her lip, looking at her own black butterfly tattoo on her arm, her memento to her poor sister.

Composing herself, she turned and approached the chair that she had laid out her clothes on, only to stop and stare in disbelief. Her clothes were gone, all except for one sock.

"Oh for Pete's sake. My clothes? Really?" she complained, before calling out, "Whichever one of you did this is off my Christmas list! Seriously, not cool, guys. Not cool at all."

She stalked over to the bathroom door, opened it, and stepped out into the corridor. She looked around and couldn't see or hear anyone. Instantly, her mind flashed back to when they pranked Beth and she felt uneasy. She glanced down to make sure that the towel covered her and she began to walk.

"Chris? Josh?" she called out, hoping for some reassurance from the least likely suspects. "What the hell?"

Suddenly, a loud noise startled her, making her stagger back. But it was just the old grandfather clock chiming.

"Ugh, stupid clock. I hate it when it does that."

She was now out on the balcony and called out again. "Chris? Mike? Emily? This is really getting out of hand, okay?"

She shook her head and continued, "It was all very funny. 'Ha ha, look at Hannah walking around in a towel,' but now I just really want this to be over, alright? You had enough?"

Still no answer, but she noticed something that bothered her: next to the stairs was a balloon with an arrow on it, pointing down. She bit her lip and made her way downstairs. She was still damp, but thankfully not dripping wet. Still, it didn't make her feel any less embarrassed. She reached the lower main room and looked around before stalking out to the front entrance.

"Can I have my clothes back now or am I supposed to hang out in a towel for the rest of the weekend?" she demanded, only to, again, be greeted with silence. "Towel it is, then."

It was then that something caught her eye: a strange business card for a slaughterhouse. On the back was a request for dead pigs and circular saw blades. While confusing, Hannah left it, she had more pressing issues. She returned and decided to continue following the balloons that showed up, guiding her to the basement.

"Okay, if you were trying to freak me out, guess what? You succeeded." she said, mostly trying to reassure herself, as she was getting unnerved by all of this.

She found that, to her surprise, the normally locked cinema room doors were wide open. She picked up the flashlight that Josh had used earlier and turned it on, stepping into the room, unaware of the masked figure in the shadows by the stairs.

"Where the hell are you guys?" she demanded. "Whoa, this is weird..."

The room was actually set up and seemed to be showing a movie, or rather, the static when a movie wasn't in focus.

Hannah exhaled sharply. She was at the end of her tether now. "Hey! Guys, come ON! I am DONE with this! I really don't appreciate the silent treatment here!"

But her angry tirade was cut off by the cinema doors slamming shut...by themselves. Hannah screamed, and again, when a distorted voice began to talk.

"Hello, Hannah." it said, sounding rather sarcastic and mocking. "Looking for me? I don't think you'll have much luck by looking, Hannah."

Hannah looked around wildly, her heart pounding. "What the... What the hell?!" she whispered in fear.

The distorted voice spoke again. "You're only going to see what I want you to see. And I have quite a lot to show you."

Hannah shook her head. "What is...what is going on?!"

"Open your eyes."

The large screen flared to life properly and Hannah turned to face it, eyes widening with shock and revulsion as it showed footage of her in the bath. Someone had been recording her. They had seen her naked.

"Oh my god..." Her words were barely breathed out. She now felt utterly violated.

The distorted voice continued, mocking her. "Yes, nowhere is safe. No escape..."

Hannah looked around frantically again. "How? Why...why did you...?"

"Do you think that she has any idea about what lies ahead? Do you think that these were the last happy moments of this creature's life?"

An icy stab of fear ran down her spine at those words. "Why are you showing this to me?"

"Why are you watching?"

With a shaky breath, Hannah turned around before screaming at what was now being shown: footage of her brother getting cut in half.

"Josh!" she cried. "OH MY GOD, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

The voice, however, took on a more menacing tone at that moment. "I'm going to give you ten seconds. Nine..."

"No, no..." Hannah whispered, looking around frantically, retreating to the nearby wall. "Nonono..."

"Eight...seven..."

"Please no..."

The door burst open and Hannah screamed as the Psycho entered, the grin of his mask likely hiding a sadistic grin of his own.

"Hannah." he growled.

In his hand, he held something that looked sinister, especially in the circumstances: a syringe filled with an unknown liquid. Hannah's heart raced. That liquid could be anything, so she had to keep it away from her.

"No... No!" she pleaded. But the Psycho began to draw closer.

Acting in a blind panic, Hannah grabbed a nearby vase and threw it blindly at the Psycho, striking his arm and making him stumble. She ran for her life, running through the door at the other end of the room. She was now in the guest room.

"Shit!" she cried out, since she could already hear his footsteps. "Shit, shit, shit."

Wasting no time, she leapt over the bed, flashlight guiding her path, grasping at her towel to keep it covering her body. The last thing that she wanted was to lose it. She was only halfway over the bed when the Psycho burst through the door and laughed. Screaming, she hurried over the rest of the bed and straight through the guest room door.

She ran along the hallway and down to the basement, making sure to avoid the damaged step. It had been damaged for years and nobody had ever gotten around to fixing it. She then stopped and looked around. She was in the basement, near where the boiler was. Still in a panic, she ducked down near where the boiler was located. A damaged pillar was her only cover and only went so far. She instantly shut off the flashlight and waited, fear pumping through her as she squatted, praying silently.

"Hannah?" the Psycho called out, slowly walking up until he was level with the pillar. "Why are you hiding?"

Hannah went rigid and stayed as still as she could, praying that he wouldn't hear her. He began to move away, but stopped further up the corridor, blocking her only path.

"Hannah...why prolong the inevitable?"

Gritting her teeth against her terror, she made up her mind to react. Remembering what she had found down there before, she grabbed the baseball bat. Running towards the Psycho, she lashed out, striking him hard and knocking him down. Unfortunately, the bat slipped from her grasp, but she knew that she had to keep running.

Hannah hurried away, turning the flashlight on again, more desperate than ever. Her heart was pounding, adrenaline fueled by fear filled her, but did nothing except add to her current panic. Still, even panicking, she kept her head. She had a vague idea of where she was going, recalling the times she explored the lodge as a child. A sudden idea came to her: if she could just reach the destination that she had in mind, she knew that she just might have a chance. She reached the end of a cellar corridor to find a door. She struggled to open it, only to find a problem.

"Are you kidding me?" she screamed in despair. "NO HANDLE?!"

She heard laughter. The Psycho had caught up. Screaming, she pulled the nearby wine storage cabinet down. He stopped, however, before it could hit him. But there, on top of it, now fallen right at her feet, was the door handle. She grabbed it and frantically tried to get the door open as the Psycho began to step over the fallen cabinet, stepping right through the wood in his effort to catch her. She finally got through and slammed the door shut, locking it. But there was a grill in the door that was open and the Psycho reached in, grabbing for her.

"Ahh!" she screamed. "Get out!"

She slammed it shut on his hand, forcing him to withdraw before she closed that, too. It could only open from this side. But she couldn't stay there, it was getting more and more dangerous the longer she evaded this man.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed her thoughts. 'Alright, nearly there, just keep going.'

She turned and ran to the door at the end, but it was locked. She didn't have time to do anything other than force it open. She knew that this was the right direction, but it had been a while since she had been down this way. She shoved her whole weight against the door again and again until she finally broke through and fell down the gap into to the underground hotel.

Wincing in pain at the jarring fall, having forgotten about the drop from that door, Hannah forced herself upwards and looked around. To her left was a passageway, to her right was the elevator that was half down, yet the doors still open, providing her with a place to hide. This was where she had been seeking and now was her chance. She quickly leapt inside the elevator shaft.

Switching off the flashlight, she ducked down and pressed herself against the wall below the door as much as possible, clutching her towel tightly. She heard his footsteps drawing closer. She frantically held her breath and shut her eyes, praying desperately. Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest, she was amazed that he couldn't hear it.

"Where are you...?" his distorted voice mocked her, right above her. "Come out, come out."

Her body was rigid with tension and fear as she waited, desperately not moving in the hopes that it would hide her presence. She dared to open her eyes in time to see him turn around, his back to her.

"FUCK!" he snapped.

Then, unbelievably, his footsteps faded as he walked away. Hannah waited a long moment until she was sure that he really was gone, before exhaling heavily and allowing herself to break out into tears, shaking as tears spilled from her eyes.

She had escaped...for now.


	15. Chapter 14

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 14  
**

Panic gripping them, Matt and Emily stood warily at the edge of the cliff. The deer surrounded them, some moving a bit closer, but they couldn't move back any further.

"Matt…!" Emily cried out, terror coating her voice, "What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?!"

Matt tightened his grip on the axe for a minute, but then relaxed it. He forced himself to stay calm and focused. He was always the first to admit that he wasn't the smartest, but he knew enough about certain subjects and animals were one of them. He knew that if they stayed calm, they wouldn't be in any danger.

"Stay calm... Relax...they're just deer... They just want to check us out, is all…"

"No, no, no, Matt, they're gonna hurt us." Emily whimpered, not at all reassured.

He gently tried to calm her and, gesturing for her to follow his lead, he began to slowly and carefully walk forwards. He kept the axe held loose at his side, not in any threatening position. Emily moved slowly, eyes half-closed, as she didn't want to see the herd closing in on her, but couldn't let Matt out of her sight.

The deer, however, stepped back, or moved around them, allowing them to walk through the herd without much issue. However, amongst the deer were their close cousins, Elk. One blocked Matt and Emily's path. Matt stopped, prompting Emily to do the same. The Elk sniffed at him but he did not react, although his nerves were on edge. He suddenly wished that he didn't have the axe.

The temptation to use it against this potential threat was strong, especially as more time passed. The Elk sniffed at him but simply would not back down or even move. Matt could feel Emily getting restless and trembling just behind him. She had practically pressed herself right up against him. But, resisting the urge to attack, Matt slowly began to move again and to his relief, the Elk backed down.

Finally, they emerged from the herd unharmed and reached a small bundle of rocks that they could climb. Quickly doing so, both Matt and Emily emerged safely from the herd, now on the path that would lead them to the radio tower, amazingly falling into place with their plans perfectly.

Letting out a sigh of relief, now that they were finally out of that danger, Emily began to lead the way, holding the flashlight steady again. As they walked, she began thinking carefully.

"If we do manage to get someone on the radio-"

"We will." Matt insisted.

Smiling at his confidence, she continued. "Then we tell them we need help. What do we do while we wait?"

Matt thought for a moment. "I guess we go back to the lodge and get everyone else."

"Oh God, not the lodge." Emily shook her head. "We should stay here. In case whoever it is needs to get back in touch with us."

"Let's get that radio working first."

Emily silently agreed with him. They'd try and call for help first, then they could worry about what to do next. They were almost at the tower, it was just above them, across a small snowy clearing. As they approached the base of the tower, a blinding light suddenly flared to life.

"Ahh, that's freakin' bright!" Emily cried out, holding a hand in front of her eyes.

Matt did the same and grimaced. "No kidding!"

Emily shook her head, frustrated. "I can't see... What is that?"

"It's just a security light." Matt confirmed at last, squinting to try and see. "Motion sensor probably."

Emily bit her lip and followed Matt, squinting her eyes until they were past the light and could see clearly again. They were now at the base of the fire tower and would have to climb the ladders to get up to the main room.

Seeing this, Matt reluctantly put down the axe and they began their climb, with Emily in the lead. Climbing up the second ladder, Emily was caught off-guard by sudden winds and nearly lost her grip.

She grit her teeth and complained, "Why is it so windy all of a sudden?"

Matt did his best to calm her. "We're almost inside."

They climbed the third ladder, finally reaching their destination. Once Emily pushed up the hatch, they got inside, with Matt closing and locking the hatch below them. They were still wary of the Psycho following them and Matt hoped that it would present at least something of an obstacle.

"You alright?" he asked Emily.

She nodded. They were inside now. It was a bit warmer and she knew what Matt had just done and why.

They began to look around the tower room. Finding the radio, Emily tried to interact with it, but got nothing.

"Ah, come ON! Great." she cried out, before realizing, "No power. Gotta be a switch or something around here..."

While looking, she found a locker and opened it, freezing when she saw, stuck to the door, a missing persons poster for Beth Washington.

She sighed sadly, guilt bubbling inside of her. "Sorry Beth, you're still missing..."

"After tonight, their disappearance is starting to make more sense." Matt commented.

Emily couldn't deny that he was right, although it made her feel very uneasy.

Resuming their search, they had no choice but to venture outside, onto the catwalk around the tower room. Exiting through the door once they opened it, Emily searched and then spotted something. It was a box, situated against the wall, with the words 'Emergency Flare' on it. She opened it to find a flare gun.

"Ah, here we go." she thought. It could certainly be useful.

She thought for a moment and decided that it would be better off in Matt's hands.

"You take this." she told him, handing him the gun. "Might need it."

Matt took it, smiling as he replied, "Aye-aye, captain."

He pocketed the gun and they resumed their search. Finally, they found a fuse box. Emily opened it and flicked the switch and grinned as the power flared to life in the tower.

"Fuck yeah, here we go!"

"Nice work." Matt replied, also grinning.

They headed back inside with Emily adding, "Okay, score one for Matt and Emily!"

As they closed the door behind them, Emily jostled a printer on a nearby table, hitting the print button, which prompted it to print out a single sheet.

Picking it up, she remarked, "Oh, it's alive."

Turning it over, she was consumed with guilt again. It was a missing persons poster for Samantha Giddings.

"Sorry, you're still missing too, Sam."

Matt gently set the paper down, touching Emily's shoulder to reassure her. Nodding, she composed herself and approached the radio.

She got to work, trying to fine-tune the radio to pick up any broadcasts that they could communicate with for help. She gasped as she heard one, although it wasn't very clear.

"...ranger service for Blackwood County. Over."

"Hello? Anyone there?" she tried, hoping that she could get through. She had found just who they were looking for, the people best equipped to help them.

"Hello? Please say something if you're out there! Please, we need help! Over! Over! Shit."

There was a pause and then suddenly, "...Hello?" The ranger spoke.

Emily's heart leapt and Matt grinned beside her. "Oh my god, thank you, we need help, please!"

The ranger replied, and it was clear that he had at least picked something up from them. "Hello, is someone trying to contact us? This is the park ranger service for Blackwood County. I'm not getting your signal very well. Please speak slowly and clearly. Over."

Emily tired to, but she was too worked up and everything came spilling out. "Please, please, please, please help! Oh my god, we're stuck on Blackwood mountain and there's a maniac..."

"If you can hear this, please repeat your message as I am unable to understand what you are saying. Over. "

Emily grew more desperate. "We need help, please!"

The ranger continued, however. "Hello? Can you please identify yourself? Over."

Emily took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She needed to do this right or they'd miss their chance. So, trying hard to maintain her self-control, she did as the ranger requested.

"Oh my god." she whispered before speaking slowly and clearly. "Okay, this is... My name is Emily... Hello?"

She checked the tuning on the radio as the ranger replied, "You're not coming through clearly, please repeat. Over."

She shook her head and tried to explain, as calmly as possible, what had happened. So she cleared her throat and explained, "We're on...Blackwood Mountain...by the ski lodge. There's a killer and he's after us and he's already killed one of our friends. Oh god, please help. You've got to help us!"

Just then, the security light below flared to life again, startling them both.

"Something tripped the motion sensor." Matt muttered, before trying to reassure Emily, "Probably a fucking deer."

Emily was about to reply when the ranger spoke again. "I read you, ma'am. Please do not leave your position."

Emily and Matt both grinned and relaxed, until his next words.

"We will send out helicopters to get you as soon as the storm has subsided. Over." the ranger explained.

Sharing a worried look with Matt, Emily tried to get clarification. She asked intently, "What? When? How long?"

The ranger hesitated before replying, "Dawn, at the earliest. Not until dawn."

Before they could say anything else, the hatch banged loudly. Someone or something was trying to enter.

"Jesus!" Matt cried out, stepping back.

Emily backed herself into one of the corners, panicking, "Oh my god, he's here! He's coming for me!"

The banging then stopped and things seemed to calm down until the tower rocked violently and began tipping. Emily screamed and Matt cried out, both of them stumbling as the tower sagged and rocked again.

"OH MY GOD! MATT, WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" she screamed in raw terror.

Matt could only cry out, "The tower!"

At the same time, Emily yelled, "Oh God!"

The tower began to fall. Matt tried to reach for Emily but was unable to do so. Finally, the tower laid on its side. Emily had fallen and landed hard on one of the windows, which had cracked badly. She was now sporting a bloody nose and a scratch on her forehead from the impact. Matt, meanwhile, was hanging from a support beam, clutching it for dear life.

"No..." Emily got out through the pain.

Matt then saw something and cried out. "No, Emily! Emily!"

She managed to turn just enough to see what he saw. The printer was about to fall right on top of her. Crying out, she rolled out of the way and the printer smashed through the window. As she tried to recover, the radio also fell and she screamed as she fell through the window, now hanging onto one of the catwalk bars.

"Fuck me! Jesus! Shit!" she cried out. "Shit! Ahh, no! Don't... No!"

She barely had time to articulate as Matt also cried out, "OH SHIT!"

The tower fell more and tumbled down into the mines below.

* * *

To Matt, the fact that he woke up at all was a miracle, but it happened.

"Oh fuck!"

Those were the first words out of Matt's mouth as he finally recovered. The tower had fallen and was now only just hanging. They were underground in the mines that ran under the mountain. Moving slowly and carefully, climbing his way out of the tower, which shook ominously as he did so, Matt saw that the tower was hanging precariously over a long drop, almost certainly too far to have good survival chances.

"Oh fuck... Dammit, dammit!" he muttered.

"MAAATTT!" Emily suddenly screamed. "OH GOD, MATT! HELP ME, PLEAAAAASE!"

Startled, he moved carefully, calling out as he did so. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'! Em, this is pretty unsteady over here..."

He said it as a warning, for he now stood, looking over the edge of the tower, which was shaking some more. Emily was there, hanging onto the bars, desperate and clearly terrified.

"Matt, you've got to do something right NOW!" she screamed. "What are you WAITING FOR?!"

He shook his head. "I'm thinking! Let me think!"

She grit her teeth and screamed again. "Don't think, you idiot! Just get me outta here!"

Matt shook his head. Even while hanging precariously from a fallen radio tower, close to death, Emily still had her sharp tongue and bitchy attitude. Directed at him, the only person who had even the smallest chance of saving her, no less. Nevertheless, he could understand the tension of this situation. His concern for her overrode anything else.

"I'm gonna try and get to you and pull you up."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, stop talking! I can't take it!"

"Emily, you're upset. You need to calm down, you're gonna be fine." he told her. "Stop yelling at me and let me work this out, okay?"

Emily bit her lip, trying to calm down. She knew that she had no reason to be so worked up at Matt, especially since he had stood up for her against Jessica at the lodge.

"Yeah, you just take all the time that you need." she replied at last. Her voice was softer, but she couldn't resist the sarcasm. "Not like I'm going anywhere."

Smiling a little at that, Matt nodded and tested his weight carefully on the tower. It seemed to be holding for now.

"I'm gonna try and get to you and pull you up." he said at last.

With a gasp of relief, she shot back, "Now will you please get me off this goddamned tower?! Please please please, Matt! JUST DO SOMETHING!"

Matt knew that he had to save her and began to cautiously edge closer to the ledge that Emily was hanging from. He reached out for her.

"I'm coming... Here...ugh!"

Emily screamed and Matt forced himself upright as the tower shook again, falling down a bit, nearly coming completely off the rocks, which were now the only things holding it up.

"Shit... Oh shit!" she cried. "Matt!"

She had fallen and grabbed onto another railing. Only now, it was the last one. Another fall and she wouldn't have anything to save herself with.

Matt panicked, trying to equalize his weight. "I don't wanna tip it."

All the same, he couldn't leave her hanging there.

"Oh...come on, come on..." he muttered as he tried again.

He moved slowly and was soon lying, ready to reach out.

Emily looked up at him. "Jesus!" she hissed, pleadingly.

She reached up for his hand, praying that he could save her. But then the tower shook more violently and Emily lost her grip.

"EMILY!" he cried out, watching in horror as she fell, screaming. "Oh fuck, oh fuck!"

Reacting at once, he leapt off the tower to a nearby ledge as it fell with a thunderous cacophony of noise. The landing was bad and Matt ended up getting knocked out.

* * *

Groaning as he woke up, Matt slowly tried to get to his feet. Suddenly remembering what had happened, he looked around wildly.

"Emily?!" But all he saw was carnage, a few bits of fiery wreckage. "Oh no, Em... Em... EMILY! EMILYYYY!"

No response. He broke down, staggering to his feet. He couldn't believe it. Was she...truly gone?

'She is. No one could survive that. Oh, Emily...'

His grief was interrupted, however, when something, something that he couldn't see, grabbed him and began dragging him along the cavern floor.

"NO, GET OFF!" he cried out in shock. The strength of the thing was unreal. "GET OFF! ARGH! LET GO! LET GO!"

But it did no such thing. It continued to drag him, vicious and unyielding to his struggles. Then he remembered the flare gun. He still had it!

Wriggling frantically, he was able to pull it from his pocket and, blind-firing, he shot right above his head. There was an unearthly screech as Matt suddenly found himself lying flat on the ground, no longer being dragged. The brightness of the flare going off had temporarily blinded him. But he sat up, heart hammering, and looked around, his vision clearing. He couldn't see anything dangerous.

"Holy crap..."

Shakily getting back to his feet, he had no choice but to find his way out, despite being hopelessly lost. But now he knew that he wasn't alone down there.


	16. Chapter 15

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 15**

Back in the lodge, Ashley paced frantically in front of the stairs, clutching her flashlight tightly. She could still feel the stickiness of Josh's blood on the side of her face and clothes. She heard the rapid footsteps and looked up, nerves on a hair trigger. It was Chris, hurrying down the stairs, alone.

"Hannah wasn't up there?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, I didn't see her... She must have come down here."

As he said that, he gestured to the signs: balloons with arrows and, at least until they faded, damp, bare footprints.

Ashley shook her head. "I haven't seen her, either."

Chris bit his lip, worried. Using his own flashlight, they began to walk around towards the stairs leading to the basement, incidentally following the arrows on the balloons. Just then, the candle to Ashley's left, on the table, suddenly became lit by itself.

"Ahh!" she screamed. "Did that just happen?"

Chris was seriously getting freaked out now. "Dammit, what is going on around here?!"

They were all the more desperate to find Hannah now, so they continued onwards, as they made their way downstairs and, seeing that the door was open, into the cinema room.

Ashley bit her lip. "Chris..." she said suddenly.

"Han-!" Chris began to call out, but stopped. "What?"

She shuffled her feet and shyly spoke. "Chris, I just want to say... What happened back there in the shed... I know how hard that was. Josh was your friend..."

He turned to her, shaking his head. "Ashley, stop."

Wincing at the massive bruise on his forehead, just above his left eye, she continued. "No, I want to say... I mean, thank you. Thank you for saving my life."

Chris shook his head. "Ash, what was I gonna do? I...I couldn't let anything happen to you, I couldn't..."

They both stood awkwardly, aware of the various meanings implied by Chris' words.

Finally, Chris broke the silence. "Let's just find Hannah, okay?" he said firmly. "That's what we're doing now."

Nodding, Ashley followed Chris as they exited the cinema room and into the hallway, just as the door suddenly slammed shut behind them.

"What the heck?" Ashley whimpered in despair.

This was seriously doing a number on her nerves. Chris gently put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she exhaled softly, trying to relax. It only lasted until she tried to open the door to the guest room. It suddenly closed, nearly taking her hand with it.

"This is so eff-ed up!" Chris cried out.

Ashley was compelled to agree. All that they wanted was to find Hannah and get the hell out. She couldn't help but wonder and worry about the others.

"Wait a minute!" Ashley screamed, upon seeing the door to another hallway open by itself and seeing a ghostly figure at the end of it. "Did you see that?"

"Uhh..." Chris replied, turning, "Did I see what?"

"That, Chris! That!" she cried out, gesturing.

Chris shook his head. "What 'that' was that?"

Groaning, she tried to explain. "It was like...a see through shape, like a ghost."

"Oh boy."

"I'm serious, why don't you believe me?!" she insisted. "I said that I saw it. Doesn't that count for anything?"

Ashley was frantic and Chris wanted to calm her down. This incident in particular was crazy and he didn't want to say the wrong thing. He tried to help her understand where he was coming from without insulting her.

"We've been through Hell tonight. Okay? Your mind is fried. My mind is fried." he explained, adding gently, "I don't even trust what I've been seeing."

Ashley sighed. She had to admit that Chris had a point, but still.

"I don't know. I don't know...I just, I saw something Chris."

He gently touched her arm. "Ash, it's okay. You're just... We're both...kind of out of our heads right now. I mean, we just... We gotta pull it together, okay? You with me?"

She bowed her head and he said softly, "Let's just keep our heads."

"Are we going crazy down here?" she whimpered.

Chris didn't know, but he reasoned, "It's the only place left that Hannah could be, Ash."

She agreed and they walked on a bit, before stopping again.

"I wish that we could just go and find everybody else and-"

"What if Hannah needs us?" Chris asked. "What if she's in trouble?"

"Oh God..."

Just then, the door to the basement opened by itself. Steeling himself, Chris gently urged Ashley to follow. She did so and together, they made their way down.

Once down there, they were greeted by a loud nose, followed by a louder one, and then a cabinet to their right jerked as an item flew from the shelf, nearly hitting them.

They both leapt back, startled.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" Chris yelled. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

Ashley backed away, freaked out more than ever. "What the HELL is going ON?!"

She turned around to see a rocking horse, that was disturbingly mobile. She screamed, getting Chris' attention.

She shook her head, holding up a hand to reassure him. "Oh my god, that scared me."

"You knocked into it, right?" Chris queried, before sounding worried. "You knocked into it?"

Ashley groaned. That was the part that freaked her out. "I don't...I don't think so. I mean, I don't know."

She turned back to Chris, clearly upset. Chris couldn't blame her.

"How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up out of nowhere and that specter or whatever it was..."

Chris tried to reason with her. "Ashley, I think you're kind of ignoring what's really happening here."

Ashley gestured and replied, actually sounding irritated for once, "Don't tell me that you didn't see that translucent white figure just passing right by us?"

"We...we could be seeing things-"

"I'm not imagining things!" she insisted.

Chris sighed and replied firmly, reminding her, "Yeah, well, I saw things, too! I saw what happened to Josh in the shed! You know? And that's what I'm worried about!"

Ashley's shoulders slumped, her anger evaporating. She could see the pain and terror in his eyes.

"Oh...Chris..." she whispered softly, "I know, I know."

He just nodded and then explained, "You know what I'm really worried about? I'm worried about Hannah! What's happened to her?"

He paused before uneasily adding, "If there's some maniac out here, then she could be dead, too."

"Don't say that. Please, Chris."

He nodded and they continued exploring the hallway for any clues. The only thing that they saw, however, was a large dollhouse. Taking a closer look, Ashley gasped.

"Look! Look look look, Chris!" she said, gesturing for him to come closer. "You can see in the windows."

Chris shook his head, incredulous. "See what? Tiny furniture?"

She rolled her eyes and replied, "No, it's a whole scene, with dolls and everything."

Something about what little she could see disturbed her. Seeing this, Chris thought that it might be worth taking a closer look. It could be another twisted clue left behind by the Psycho.

But then they hit a snag: the dollhouse had a hidden keyhole and was locked.

"Huh, I guess you need a key if you want to play around in there." he muttered.

Ashley straightened up and looked to her right, down the end of the corridor, and saw the translucent figure again. She quickly pointed, growing frantic.

"Wait! Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris! The ghost!"

He spun around. "What?!"

She looked at him, incredulous. "Didn't you see it?"

Sheepishly admitting that he didn't, Chris was revealed to be holding his phone.

Ashley glared. "You were looking at your phone, you dip! What are you tweeting?! Hashtag there's a freaking ghost after us?!"

Sighing, Chris tried to calmly explain. "Ash, calm down, okay. There is no ghost here. Ghost of what? You're freaked out because of what happened with Josh."

"You're not paying attention." she hissed. "I saw it! I saw a ghost I swear...it, it looked like Sam."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Chris spluttered. "WHAT?!"

Ashley sighed and admitted, "I mean it!"

"Jesus, Ash..." Chris groaned. "What do you think? That they followed us up here from the seance?"

Ashley shook her head indignantly. "I don't know! Maybe!"

"They didn't. Because ghosts don't exist, okay?!" Chris tried to reason with her.

Glaring, she shot back, "Okay, then who was talking to us at the seance, Chris?"

Chris admitted that he didn't know, just in time for a scream to rend the air and a picture down the hall to fly off the wall.

They watched in stunned silence before Ashley choked out, "What did that?"

Chris was more freaked out than ever now. "How does a picture just jump off the wall like that?"

They walked carefully down the hall and, where the picture had been was a hook. On it was a key, a key that looked like it would fit the dollhouse lock. Smiling a little, Ashley took it. Looking back, she saw the ghost again.

"Oh my GOD! There! Look there, Chris! You can't tell me that you didn't see that!" she cried out.

Only half of her sentence was finished before Chris turned, this time actually seeing the figure and gaping in shock.

"Wow, that's..."

See? You do see it."

"That's..." he stammered. "I dunno, I-I just... This is fucking crazy..."

Ashley couldn't agree more, but they had to press on. They hurried down towards where the ghost had been, realizing that it had disappeared near the dollhouse again.

"Chris..." Ashley realized, "It's showing us the way."

Chris didn't reply, so Ashley unlocked the dollhouse and opened the front and to her shock, she was confronted with a dollhouse scene of that fateful night where they had played that cruel prank on Beth.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is going on here?" Chris gasped.

"Oh God, it's like..." Ashley whispered.

He shook his head, however. "It's not 'like' anything. That's us. Hiding there, waiting for Beth, last year."

Ashley let out a strangled gasp, particularly at Chris saying the word 'us' when he himself hadn't been involved. It still freaked her out, however.

"But it's so accurate. I mean, that's exactly where I was sitting...and that's where Matt was..."

Chris noticed this too and shuddered. It certainly was freaky.

After debating what could possibly be behind this setup, their suspicions ranging from the ghost to the Psycho, they were treated to a doll's head turning to the side and eyes opening, surprising them. They leapt back, but recovered, just as the top of the dollhouse opened to reveal something inside.

Picking it up, Ashley realized right away what it was. "It's...it's Beth's diary..."

Biting her lip, she opened it and read through some pages, reaching the last entry, dated just the day before their last visit to the lodge the previous year.

"'Everyone being together here...on the mountain...is gonna be so awesome...cozy fires and hot tubs...'" she read aloud. "'And OMG Mike...I am so psyched to spend some time with him...' I can't read this! It's so sad, Chris..."

She put the diary back and then suddenly froze at the sound of a door creaking open. Both sharing a wary glance, they approached the door at the end of the hallway. Suddenly, the ghost appeared, shrieking. Ashley cried out, jumping back. Chris ran forward, crossing the threshold of the door, which slammed shut.

"Oh, Chris, Chris!" she cried out, banging on the door.

It opened to her relief and Chris stood there, thankfully unhurt.

"Nothing here." he said, looking around warily.

Ashley inhaled sharply. "But you did see it, Chris. For real?"

Chris shrugged and admitted, "I saw...something. But where'd it go?"

Ashley just shook her head, not particularly eager to find out. She entered the next room too and they continued their search for Hannah. While searching, Ashley found something strange: a catalogue of sorts, relatively recent.

"Hey, look at this." she said quickly. "Doesn't seem as old as some of the stuff down here."

Chris looked at it too, raising an eyebrow. "A catalogue...for industrial lightbulbs?"

"That is so random."

She turned a page and they both noticed one of the bulbs was circled, a particularly powerful bulb. Putting it aside as Chris turned away, Ashley spotted a pair of scissors. She quickly picked them up and stowed them in her back pocket, just in case the Psycho appeared again. It was while they were searching that Ashley found a camera hidden between a pair of boxes.

"Uh...Chris?"

He approached and stopped dead when he saw the camera.

Biting her lip, Ashley asked, "You think it's the guy?"

"Well, that makes sense."

Shaking her head, Ashley muttered, "I don't like being watched."

Chris nonchalantly reached over and turned the camera around. "Better?" he queried gently.

Ashley rolled her eyes and picked the camera up, talking directly into it. "Go suck an egg!"

She then put the camera back in the position Chris had turned it to. Looking up at him grinning at her, she shrugged. "Now it's better."

Together, they resumed their trek until suddenly, the lodge shuddered and Ashley looked around, worried.

"Uh, what was that, huh?"

Chris, however, had stopped dead, looking through a doorway ahead. "Wait, there's a whole other room through here." he gasped. "It's mammoth."

Ashley groaned, hearing that. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. However, she followed him and they soon both stopped, gazing in wonder at the ruin of what seemed to be an old hotel, right underneath the Washington's ski lodge.

Walking slowly onwards, Ashley whispered, "Where in the world are we now?"

"Are you kidding me?" Chris exclaimed as he also took in their surroundings.

She turned to him. "Did you know that this was here?"

He shook his head. "This? This is like a whole other hotel. I had no idea that this was here."

Ashley shuddered. She was finding out more and experiencing more this night than she ever had in her whole life and she really didn't like it.

Turning to Chris, she said as much. "I don't think that I can take any more of this."

Chris nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm about at my limit here, too."

"All I wanted to do was forget that last year ever happened!" she exclaimed.

"To be honest..." Chris said softly, "I'm not sure what Beth thought she was doing."

"Yeah, well, you know how it is when you're crushing pretty hard on somebody." she said with a rather knowing tone.

Chris shook his head, however. "Great, so you're basically saying that we put a vulnerable friend in a terrible situation and essentially caused her to run away and never be heard of again?"

"If it was you, don't you think that you would have run away?" she asked desperately. "I mean, who likes being made fun of?"

Chris scoffed a little. "People don't make fun of me."

"To your face."

"What?" he gasped.

She shook her head, looking guilty all over again.

"Chris, we made her look so stupid in front of all of her friends and the guy she liked." she explained. "I can't imagine doing anything worse to somebody."

Chris nodded sadly, both of them lost in thought while exploring the hotel.

It was during this search that Ashley found something that confused her and Chris both: a bunch of newspapers telling the story of the escaped convict, but the dates didn't add up. The newspapers were, in fact, fakes, something which confused both of them. Their exploration then led them to reaching a staircase leading lower underground.

Ashley, however, was pretty much done in. "You know what? No."

"Ash..."

"No!" she replied, her voice rising. "I've had enough. I'm not going down any further into this nightmare, Chris!"

He nodded sagely. He could understand her reluctance. "Ashley...I understand, okay? I'm really freaked out, too. But if Hannah's down there all alone with a maniac...and we leave? We're basically killing her ourselves."

Ashley bit her lip at that. She knew that Chris was right, although it didn't make her feel better. Still, with a sigh, she chose to swallow her fears.

"Goddamn it." she muttered.

"Ashley, come on." Chris coaxed gently.

"Why are you always right?"

"I'm not always right." Chris corrected her.

She sighed. "Well, when you're right, you're right."

Chris smiled gently to her and admitted, "I don't want to be. I want to leave."

"No, no." she replied, putting on a brave face. "We've gotta find Hannah. Let's go."

Nodding, he began to descend the stairs with Ashley following.

Thinking over everything that they had found as she walked, Ashley shook her head. "Chris, I'm gettin' a really weird feeling from all of this."

He turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

Ashley began to sum up her thoughts. "So we're saying that the same guy who made the newspapers also set up the camera, right?"

"Yeah...I think so..." Chris replied.

Ashley shook her head. "It's just... It feels like he's constructing the whole story for us...then watching us run around, freaking out, seeing what we do, like it's...like it's some sort of fucking experiment!"

"Yikes, that...that's kinda..." Chris gasped, shocked. "That actually makes a weird sort of sense..."

Ashley nodded in agreement. Still, they pressed on, searching the corridors and finding, strangely, sets of batteries and timers, which seemed to be connected in some weird way. Entering another room that closed them in, Ashley was the first to discover the source of the unpleasant odor.

"Oh no, you've got to be kidding me! Repulsive!" she cried out, covering her mouth, almost throwing up.

Hanging from a hook was a gutted pig's carcass.

"This can't be for eating." Chris replied with a grimace.

"Why the hell is it here?"

Chris shook his head in disgust. "It's like a goddamn grindhouse in here."

Amongst the other freaky things that they found was a series of hooks and chains attached to the wall and, in quite a spooky fashion, a photo arrangement of all of them.

They were more than glad to get out of that room...until they saw the next door. Their journey led them to, of all things, a door smeared with blood.

"Oh crap, look at that..."

"Blood?!" Ashley gasped, worried.

Chris nodded, sharing her worries. "Might be Hannah's... Let me see if I can get this..."

He began trying to open it, managed to do so, but seemed strained.

"Ugh, got it, but...damn, this thing is heavy."

Ashley stepped closer. "Be careful!"

"You gotta come through...Ash..." he told her. "I can't hold it... Ugh, come on..."

It was then that Ashley spotted motion in her peripheral vision and then saw a figure to her right.

"Oh, Chris!"

"What?" he grunted.

"I think I just saw Hannah over there." she said quickly, pointing.

Chris shook his head. "Ash...are you SURE?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. But come on, I think we should check it out."

"Well, I'm pretty sure whoever's bleeding came through here, okay? So we really got to get moving, like, now!" Chris pointed out.

Ashley pondered briefly, but in the end, agreed with him. "Okay, yeah, you're right. I'm coming."

With that, they were able to slip through the door, which slammed shut behind them. They recovered quickly and began searching again until they came to a room with double doors. Opening them, they could see a figure slumped in a chair.

"Chris... Oh no..."

"Hello?" Chris called out, hesitant.

Ashley also did the same. "Hannah?"

They approached the chair and Ashley turned it.

"Hannah!" she cried out, but then paused. "I don't...I don't get it."

The figure in the chair wasn't Hannah, but a mannequin wearing Hannah's clothes. Ashley and Chris were both heavily confused and debating their discovery, both expressing extreme concern for Hannah when suddenly Chris cried out.

"CHRIS!" Ashley screamed as she saw the Psycho attack him, gassing him to sleep. "OH SHIT!"

He then turned on her and began approaching.

"AHH, NO!" she screamed, fumbling in her back pocket. "GET BACK! Stay the hell away from me!"

He raised the mouthpiece, ready to gas her in the same way. With a scream, Ashley was able to pull out the scissors and stab them into his shoulder.

"Oh, no, no, no..." he cried out in his distorted voice.

Ashley looked down at Chris, praying that she could do something.

"Live and learn!"

"What?" she gasped, looking up.

The Psycho had recovered and with tremendous force, punched Ashley right in the face, knocking her out.

"Live..." he growled venomously, "...And learn."

* * *

Ashley groaned while Chris looked around frantically. They had both just woken up to find themselves in a rather bland room, except for the center, where they were. In the center was a table with two chairs. Ashley and Chris found themselves tied to these chairs, sitting across from one another. Ominously, a gun was situated on the table in front of them. Ashley was utterly helpless, strapped in and unable to get free. To Chris' surprise, his right hand had been left free.

"Oh shit... Oh crap..." he muttered, looking around. "Ash! ASH!"

She lifted her head to look at him and he gasped.

"Jesus, Ash. What did he do to you?"

Ashley was still dizzy and had only a vague recollection of the encounter. She was now sporting a heavy black eye, bruising all the way around her left eye.

"I think...he hit me." she choked out, wincing at the pain.

Chris growled, a suddenly feeling of rage building up inside him. "Shit. I'm gonna murder his fucking face off."

Ashley looked around frantically. "What is this?"

"This is him..." Chris realized. "This is the guy who killed Josh."

"No, Chris! Oh my god, no!" Ashley screamed, realizing now that they had to be in some sort of death trap. "Oh god...Chris!"

Chris looked around, fuming. In his anger, he yelled out, "You murdering piece of shit! You MONSTER!"

"Look around!" Ashley cried out. "We're gonna die, Chris! I don't think I'm ready to die!"

Chris bit his lip. He had to calm her down. It hurt, strangely. It hurt him so much, seeing Ashley like this.

He gently held out his free hand. "No one is going to die." He tried to sound convincing.

Ashley looked at him, teary-eyed. "I wish I could tell you. It's just not fair!"

"What?" he asked, confused. "Tell me what?"

"It's too late now! Chris, what's the point?!"

Chris shook his head, however. "Stop it, just say..."

Ashley looked at him and through the terror and tears, despite being tied to chairs and likely awaiting a death trap, Chris could honestly say that he saw something very familiar in Ashley's eyes. Something that he saw in his own, if he happened to even glance at a mirror while thinking about her.

"We're always talking around it." she choked out through her tears. "And now, I mean, we've wasted everything!"

Chris spoke softly, admitting the truth at last. "Ashley...none of it was wasted."

"What do you mean?"

"Every second that I spent with you was the only thing that I ever wanted to do with my time." he confessed, letting his voice carry his emotions.

"What are you saying, Chris?" She could scarcely believe it. Was Chris truly admitting that he had feelings for her as well? What a place for it.

"I'm sorry..." Chris said at last. "I should have told you how I felt."

"Chris…" she whispered, realizing the truth at last. They both did now.

Chris nodded and began to talk. "Ashley, I swear, when we get out of this-"

But his words were cut short by a horribly familiar sound. They looked up in terror as two circular saws situated above them turned on and began their deadly high speed rotations. All the while slowly, but inexorably, descending towards them.

They both immediately panicked. Ashley tugged at her bonds but they wouldn't budge. Chris tried to free himself with his unbound hand but couldn't reach any of the knots.

"Oh God!"

"AHH!" Ashley screamed. "No! Help, Chris!"

He spoke swiftly but firmly with renewed resolve. "Ashley...I'll get you out of this. I won't let you die!"

"Hello there, my special little subjects."

Ashley screamed and began sobbing as the Psycho spoke again, unseen, but no doubt watching.

"I'm so scared, Chris..." Ashley sobbed uncontrollably.

"Aw, shit..." he muttered before talking again. "Don't be scared-"

The Psycho cut him off. "Oh, you should be, Ash... Because here's the twist: Chris has made one fatal choice already today."

Ashley panicked, losing whatever thin threads of resolve that she had left. "Oh no... No…!"

"And now he must make another." the Psycho continued. "Chris, you can take that gun in front of you and shoot Ashley...or you can shoot yourself. Whoever is left can live...the choice is yours."

Chris froze, as did Ashley. It was, again, a choice of killing someone, as if Chris hadn't been put through enough already. But to lay the burden on him again? Chris reacted at once, however. There was another choice. He grabbed the gun and aimed upwards, shooting at the saw, but it seemed that he missed, instead shooting out the light or the bullet had simply ricocheted.

"Don't be so silly, Chris." the Psycho laughed.

Chris grit his teeth. The saws were descending and he didn't have much time. It seemed that when he made his choice, either shooting himself or Ashley, the Psycho planned to stop the saws and whoever was left alive could go free.

Chris bit his lip. He couldn't believe that he was considering this.

'What is there to think about? It'll be messy, it'll hurt like fuck, but then it'll be over...' he told himself firmly. 'At least this way, Ash will live. She... I can't let her...'

Chris took a deep breath and lifted the gun, aiming it against his own head.

"Wait, stop!" Ashley screamed. "You can't do it, Chris. It should be me."

He gaped, staring at her, incredulous again.

She shook her head. "You chose to save me before. Let me choose this time... Let me choose to save you."

She was crying again. Chris understood what she meant. She wanted him to give her the gun so that she could do to herself what he planned to do to himself.

"Oh, fuck!" he cried out.

The saws were getting closer. They were running out of time.

"If I do one last thing in my life, let me do this!" Ashley insisted before desperation took over. "Chris, please. Oh God, NO! OH GOD!"

Chris remained frozen, hand trembling. He tried to bring the gun back to his head, but couldn't. With a short cry, he slammed the gun onto the table again as the saws continued their descent and Ashley saw how close they were.

"NOOO!"

Chris jerked in his seat as Ashley screamed a single, long, blood-curdling scream.


	17. Chapter 16

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 16  
**

Hannah bit her lip as she crawled slowly, edging towards the exit to the vent.

After waiting until she was sure that the Psycho was gone, she had slipped out of the elevator and begun to look for a way out. Finding an open vent, she'd slipped inside and begun to sneak through it, stopping and waiting for quite some time, too scared to emerge in case the Psycho was, in fact, waiting for her.

She winced at the pain in her body. She was bruised and she had a nasty gash on her right knee. The blood had come down to cover her upper shin and her towel was filthy now. But thankfully, none of the dust or dirt had gotten into her wound.

'The last thing I want is some sort of infection. Things are already bad enough here... Where did that guy even come from?' she thought in terror. 'What about the others? Are they...? What if he...? God, don't think like that, Hannah. Not until you see proof.'

So, preparing herself, she moved around so that her feet were pointed at the vent cover. She kicked at it twice before it broke open and she slid into the underground room. It looked like some sort of crazy workshop. She almost gasped in horror at the sight of it.

She shuddered and thought, 'This must be that whack-job's lair.'

There was no sign of him, however. So she composed herself and prepared to take a look around.

She wasn't sure to start, until she saw something on a nearby noticeboard that drew her eye. She approached it and examined it. It was a sheet of paper. On it was what looked like designs, plans of some sort, for the same sort of machine that had killed Josh. But they revealed something strange.

"This is..." she whispered. "This can't be right."

The plans showed that it would be possible for someone to stand behind where the victims were supposed to be, with his head stuck through a hole on top of a fake body. Something about that didn't sit right with her.

Shaking her head, she continued to search through the workshop, searching in desks and amongst shelves. It wasn't easy clutching a towel around her body, holding a flashlight, and searching for things all at the same time.

"Wha...what is going on here?" she muttered to herself.

She had just found a psychiatric report and Josh's cellphone, all of which seemed to indicate communication from Dr. Hill to Josh and it seemed like he was trying to warn him off from some sort of unknown plan, saying that it was a bad idea. Shaking her head, Hannah continued her search, starting to seriously get worried and suspicious.

'What is... Dr. Hill did tell me that he was worried about Josh, that Josh wasn't taking the treatment as seriously as I was. But I never... No, don't jump to conclusions, Hannah.' she found herself thinking. 'Focus. Wait for actual answers.'

She then noticed another noticeboard. Upon which were pictures and letters and such, all relating to Sam and Beth.

Hannah shuddered upon seeing it. "Ugh. Creep city..."

She left the room, finding herself in a small corridor. Continuing her search, she spotted what looked like an audio recorder and it already had a message on it. Hannah played it and listened to the message. She was startled to hear the Psycho's voice in it. It seemed like he had recorded one of the speeches that he had either already given or was yet to give. The recording seemed to be a rehearsal, as the Psycho seemed to falter and try again. At one point, the voice recording even stopped sounding distorted.

'Wait, that voice sounds familiar somehow. But... Surely not...'

Still lost in thought, Hannah proceeded onwards, tensing when she saw, just in the next room, the Psycho working on something. Watching and waiting, it seemed.

Holding her breath and crouching below the room's window, she made her way into the next chamber. What she found there wasn't much better.

'Ho-lee, this is...ugh, sick. He intended to do that to me?!' she thought in disgust.

She felt even more violated now. For in the room was a video camera pointed at a chair. Upon which, a mannequin was tied up, wearing her stolen clothes. It was clear that it was intended to be her. She now realized, had she been caught, she would have been tied to that chair herself, most likely still in just this towel...if she was lucky.

Shuddering at the thought of that and the implications of what could have been, Hannah made her way towards the door opposite the chair, spotting her backpack. Her heart leapt, due to the tightness of the ropes around the mannequin. She couldn't properly get her clothes off the dummy, but she had spare clothes in her bag. She could change and hopefully also find something for her injured leg. At the very least, she wanted to get some shoes on. The ground was rough and already causing more pain for her bare feet.

As she walked towards her bag, she had to pass a floor-level wall grate. Someone grabbed her ankle as she passed by it. She gasped, leaping back, trying to ignore the jolt of pain it sent through the gash in her knee.

'What the fuck?! It's him, he... No, wait…' she calmed herself down. 'If it was him, he wouldn't have let go of me the minute I jumped.'

She looked down and gasped at the familiar face below. The young man smiled, giving her a short wave.

"Mike!" she whisper-shouted. "What are you doing down there? There's a g-!"

She stopped and composed herself, relief flooding her. At least she had found a familiar face. She knelt down until she was level with Mike. She clutched the towel tightly to make sure that it didn't come undone in front of him.

Mike nodded, showing plain relief at her being alive, too.

"Oh Mike, thank God you found me." she said at last.

Mike nodded and spoke reassuringly, "It's okay, you're okay."

As he said this, Hannah paused, worried. She noticed something.

"Where's Jessica? She's not with you?"

He sighed and after a lengthy pause, revealed, "Jess...is dead."

"Jesus, what happened?" she gasped, her eyes widening in horror.

Hannah's heart sank. She didn't like Jess or Emily, not after what happened last year. But she never outright hated them, and certainly not to the point where she'd wish death on either of them! She had hoped that this trip would be a chance for the group to heal and make amends for what they did to Beth and Sam. Instead, it had devolved into a nightmare!

Mike shook his head. "There's some fucking maniac up here on the mountain. He's…he's trying to kill us all!"

"Listen, the guy who you're talking about..." Hannah began, shuddering, "He attacked me. He showed me these videos too, and one of them showed Josh being killed, just...ripped apart by this huge fucking saw blade!"

"Jesus Christ!"

Hannah nodded and then remembered, "I think he's living down here and whoever the hell he is, he's obsessed with Sam and Beth... But here is the crazy thing: I found these plans, like, blueprints for a crazy machine, just like the one that Josh was in, but it's fake... It was for a dummy."

"Hannah, slow down." Mike replied, realizing what she was getting at.

Hannah, however, shook her head. She was determined to get her point across.

"I'm saying that Josh might not be dead!"

"What the fuck is going on around here?" Mike wondered aloud, before gesturing to his left. "There's a door here. It won't open. Can you unlock it from your side?"

"I'll see." she replied, standing up.

She approached the door that she had seen earlier and retrieved her backpack, fixing the straps over her shoulders. She then exited through the door and looked to her left. Down a small flight of stairs was the door that Mike had to have been talking about. She approached it quickly and saw a wooden plank jammed across it. She quickly removed the plank and pulled the door open.

She smiled as Mike stepped through, covered in grime and dried blood.

"Hey..." he sighed, relieved.

She didn't hesitate, despite the towel and how dirty they looked. She hugged him immediately and he instantly returned it and spoke softly.

"Thank God, Hannah. I'm just...so glad you're okay."

"Me, too. It's been a rough night for all of us."

They held each other for a few moments, enjoying their reunion and each others' embrace, after going through so much hardship that night. This was nothing new for them, however. During their emotional recoveries over the past year, there had been many moments where they had felt weak and needed a hug and support from each other. That's what made them so close, and such close friends. And for Hannah, it made Mike even more than just a friend to her, but she hadn't told him that.

She stepped back, biting her lip as she took note of the mess he was in.

"Jeez," Hannah gasped, "You look like hell."

Mike laughed a little. "Nice to see you, too."

Hannah just rolled her eyes at that and moved over to the other end of the room, moving behind some shelves which offered, sadly, only minimal cover.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Mike asked.

Hannah replied sarcastically as she was able to finally clean the cut on her leg, as well as most of the blood. It had scabbed over, so it hopefully wouldn't cause any more issues, unless it reopened.

"Well, actually, the towel didn't turn out to be the best outfit for fighting off killer maniacs, you know?" She paused and then gestured for him to turn around. "Do you mind? Mike?"

Realizing quickly, Mike did just that. "Oh, right! My bad."

He quickly turned around and Hannah dropped the towel at last and began pulling her spare clothes out of her bag before pulling them on.

Before long, Hannah had redressed in a simple blue T-shirt, dark yoga pants, a white hooded top, and gray sneakers. A head torch was also part of the outfit, although she kept this slung around her neck for now.

"Okay, done. Let's put this thing to bed." she said at last.

Turning around, Mike joined her, nodding. "Amen to that."

They felt calm and confident, now that they were together again. They felt safer together and felt like they could face whatever danger was down there and actually have a chance at making it through.

They had yet to determine their next destination, however. But they soon got their answer when they heard screaming and Ashley's voice.

"Please!"

"I can't! I can't decide!" Chris' voice could be heard, too.

They each shared a worried look and ran to the door at the other end of the room where the screams had come from and soon forced the door open. They froze at the sight before them. Chris and Ashley were strapped to chairs on either side of a table. Above them, having stopped mere inches from their heads, were circular saws, still spinning. Chris had one hand free and was holding a gun. They looked distraught and traumatized, both of them bearing several injuries.

Then they all saw him. The Psycho stepped out of the shadows towards Chris and Ashley, who had been looking around in shock, mostly likely at still being alive, despite the death trap.

The Psycho ominously approached and Ashley cried out, "No!" She shook her head, struggling desperately against her bonds. "No, no, no! Get away!"

Hannah and Mike started to move forwards when Chris suddenly shot at the Psycho three times. They stopped and stared in disbelief, as the Psycho was unharmed.

"Oh, Chris..." he muttered in his distorted voice. "Oh, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris."

Chris shook his head in utter shock, looking at the gun. "What the fuck?!"

"You've heard of blanks before. I mean, really?" the Psycho replied, revealing the truth.

The gun had been loaded with blanks the whole time. It was then that the Psycho removed his terror clown mask, revealing his identity to the aghast friends, for it was none other than a very alive Joshua Washington.

Chris was the first to recover. "...Josh?" he spluttered, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

Josh burst out laughing as Hannah yelled his name, anger seething through her. Mike also voiced Josh's name, sounded just as shocked as Chris.

"Oh, very good." he said, sounding overly cheerful. "Every one of you! You got my name! And after all you've been through! Good, good-good-good. I mean, how does that feel?"

During this time, Hannah and Mike quickly untied Chris and Ashley and they all now stood, staring in shock and anger at their friend as he explained.

"Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked?" he queried, actually sounding a little crazed. "All of those emotions that my sister and Sam got to feel once one year ago! Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No, no, no! They're gone!"

By the end, he was laughing again, actually sounding completely unhinged. It was a veritable maelstrom of emotions for them all.

Hannah felt as if she had been violated all over again. Everything that she endured at the hands of the Psycho, from seeing her in the bath to chasing her as she had only a towel on, all of it was Josh! She couldn't believe that her brother would do something so sick and twisted to her, his own sister! He had crossed a line that should never be crossed!

What's worse was that Josh did all of this to them as revenge for what the group had done to Sam and Beth, yet Hannah was the only one who was against their prank from the start, but Josh didn't care, since she was still attacked by him!

Ashley was in too much shock to really think or say anything while Chris could only feel betrayed. Betrayed by his best friend.

Mike, meanwhile, replied angrily, "I don't know if you noticed this, Josh, but none of us are laughing."

Josh raised his arms and spoke. "Oh come, come-come-come-come. Why the long faces? Come on!"

He began to make expressive gestures while revealing his role in everything.

"It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did. I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle!"

Ashley remembered how the candle had flared to life. Josh had set it up to do that.

"I mean, no detail too small! No opportunity missed!" Josh continued, remembering how he had created the ghosts. "It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of your Pavlovian panic!"

Hannah recalled the death trap plans that she had seen. That was how Josh had survived. Ashley had been chained up while he stood behind the wall and put his head through the gap and onto the fake body.

"And all that gore? I mean, there was gore galore!" he continued to brag. "Fake bodies... I mean, God, that shit was expensive!"

The others all shared a look. Yeah, they had fallen for it, been terrorized, but now it was just going too far.

"And no retakes! Nope, nope, nope, only double takes! You should have seen your faces. Hook, line, and sinker for every little stinker!" Josh cried out.

He was clearly enjoying himself, feeling as if he had triumphed.

Hannah shook her head, recalling everything that she had seen. Finally, she exploded.

"Josh, WHAT THE FUCK?!" she yelled. "Are you insane?! Seriously! You chased me around this lodge with me stuck in just a fucking towel! You stole my clothes, I saw the chair, the camera, I know what you were going to do!"

Josh waved his hand dismissivly. "Oh, come on, Han. Like I was ever going to catch you. You know this place even better than I do. You probably had, like, twenty hiding places figured out that I didn't even think of."

Hannah snarled, "That doesn't change things! That's sick! You... He was right! I stood up for you, said that he was wrong, but Dr. Hill right about you all along!"

"Oh, what does he know?!" Josh shot back.

"Plenty, Josh! It was you that was the problem!" Hannah snapped. "You should have listened to him. He knew what he was doing, he could have helped you if you'd just let him... If you were just honest!"

Josh's face darkened. "Prove it. Give me one thing that proves that he knew what the fuck he was talking about."

Hannah didn't even need to think before answering, "Me. I'm the proof. Look at me, Josh! Look at me now and think about what I was like the night after what happened to Sam and Beth. I wouldn't have recovered like this if I didn't have help...and Dr. Hill was just the start of that. If I could put all of this behind me, then so could you! You had so many people who were willing to help... But you just pushed us all away!"

"You're overreacting. It's not like anyone got hurt!" Josh tried to explain.

But for Mike, that was the last straw. He snapped, "What are you talking about, you ass hat? Jessica is FUCKING DEAD."

"What?" Josh gasped, suddenly deflating.

The others all looked at Mike in horror as he moved towards Josh, reaching into his waistband to pull out a revolver.

"Did you hear me? Jessica is dead..." Mike growled. "AND YOU ARE GONNA FUCKING PAY, YOU DICK!"

As he uttered the last word, Mike slammed the butt of the revolver into Josh's head, knocking him out cold.


	18. Chapter 17

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 17**

Chris sighed as he walked with Mike. They were roughly escorting a bound Josh to the shed. It had taken them quite a while to secure him and then find their way back out of the underground hotel to reach the main lodge. Hannah and Ashley remained in the main room of the lodge, Hannah doing her best to comfort Ashley, who was still recovering from her and Chris' near-death experience, even if it hadn't been designed to actually kill. Josh had woken up midway through their attempt to leave the hotel and that just made things harder.

"Guys!" he yelled as Mike shoved himself forwards. "Guys, come on... Seriously, this is crazy, you know?"

"Shut up." Mike replied, clearly fed up.

Chris glowered, however, his mind flashing back to seeing Ashley's face in that room, the horrible bruising around her left eye. The Psycho had done it and now he knew that the Psycho was Josh. That was what infuriated him the most. Josh, his best friend, had hit Ashley, the girl he loved.

"Why did ya hit her, man?!" he burst out, unable to contain his rage anymore. "Why'd you have to fucking hit her?!"

With that, he lost it and slugged Josh straight in the face. Josh crumpled to the ground and for once, Mike had to hold Chris back from inflicting further violence.

"What are you talking about?" Josh groaned as he managed to get into a sitting position, despite his bound hands.

Chris snarled. "You punched Ashley, you piece of shit!"

Josh looked down at his shoulder where Ashley had stabbed him with the scissors. "I got so mad..."

"You don't hit a girl. You just...don't." Chris snapped.

Josh looked up at him, clearly shocked by Chris' rage.

He shook his head. "Dude...dude, Chris. Bro, I..."

Chris cut him off sharply as Mike stepped forwards. "I'm not your bro!"

Mike was keeping his emotions in check a little better than Chris, so although he didn't say anything, he was just as mad at Josh as Chris was for what Josh had planned to do to Hannah. She was Josh's own sister and Mike's closest friend, and after everything that she had gone through emotionally over the past year, Mike had become very protective of her.

Mike forced Josh to his feet and forced him along the path again.

"Where are we going? Where are you guys taking me?" Josh demanded, still startled.

Mike glared at him and spoke darkly. "Locking you up, bro."

"What?!"

"So that you can't say or do anything stupid before we call the police in the morning." Mike explained.

"Come ON!" Josh complained bitterly. "I didn't DO ANYTHING!"

Chris shook his head, seriously getting tired of this. "Are you serious, bro?"

Mike didn't want to hear it, either. "You're a goddamned murderer!"

"I didn't do it." Josh snapped, before pleading, "Michael, please just listen to me, man! I did not hurt Jessica."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Are you insane? Like, really? Do you not understand what you've done?"

"I'm a healer, man. I bring people together, not like you assholes." Josh growled in response.

Rolling his eyes, Mike forced Josh onwards. "That's enough."

They began to approach the shed, the same shed where Josh had set up his first saw trap.

Josh continued to struggle and yell at them, while also protesting. "You only see what you wanna see! You're blind!"

"Stop talking." Mike replied blandly, seriously getting tired.

"You are- Argh!" Josh's words were cut short by Mike forcing him to the ground, hurting his injured shoulder.

Chris stopped, a little startled by Mike's sudden action.

"It's not my fault that you suckers can't take a joke!" Josh exclaimed.

Mike glared at him. "Oh, oh wait, did I hurt you? Did you just feel a little...a little bit of pain? Right now? I am SO...SO...SORRY."

As he raised his voice, he put more pressure on Josh's shoulder, making him scream.

"Stop it!"

"Jesus, dude." Chris gasped. He had punched Josh, but he had never intended to go this far.

"Stop... Michael, I'm sorry, man. I can't tell you how sorry I am that something happened to Jessica!" Josh yelled through the pain. "But I swear, I swear to you that I have no idea what happened to her."

Chris noted that Josh seemed to be relapsing between his usual self and a crazed version of himself, the result of not taking his meds. However, his anger overrode his pity.

"Josh, be honest with me. Do you really expect us to trust you for a single goddamned second after all of the shit that you put us through?"

There was a pause and Josh grimaced as Mike forced him back to his feet.

Josh grinned, slipping into crazy mode again. "Can't we all just get along?" he joked before Mike shoved him hard. "OW! DAMMIT!"

Mike made him walk, holding him at gunpoint. "We're not dicking around."

With that, he forced Josh into the shed. All the while, he was ranting.

"It's not right... Nope... This is not how it's supposed to go down... You're just a bunch of bullies... You can't hang out a guy just to dry like this, guys. Not like...not like you got the guts to really do anything about it, anyways!"

"You really, really, really need to shut up, man." Chris shot back.

He was still startled by Josh's behavior. He had seen some of Josh's mental breaks at times, but never anything this bad. How long had it been since Josh stopped taking his medication?

Josh glared as Mike forced him deeper into the shed. "Oh...that's...that's... I mean, I don't even know what you mean because I don't have anything to regret."

Chris rolled his eyes while Mike forced Josh onto a stool near a pole and they began trying to untie his hands and then retie them to the pole.

"Okay, tying me up now. Okay." Josh remarked sarcastically.

"Stay still, man." Mike growled.

"Right, right, right, right, still..." Josh replied before slipping into a mocking tone while wriggling. "Can't tie 'em up if they just wiggle around."

Chris let out an exasperated sigh. "Josh, dude-"

"Leave me a little wiggle room, huh?"

Mike glowered and pulled hard on the ties. As he did so, he snarled directly in Josh's face. "What does it take to shut you up?"

"Ow!" Josh glared at him as they both stood and stepped back. "Not so tight, okay? I can't wiggle around. Plastic ties. That's where it's at. Yeah."

"What...in God's name is he talking about?" Mike wondered aloud.

It became clear that Josh had slipped even further and was now talking to himself.

"Plastic ties, plastic ties. Way more effective for hostage type scenarios."

"This is hard to watch..." Chris admitted.

Mike nodded. "He ever say this kind of shit before?"

Josh, meanwhile, was still rambling. "Guaranteed for at least three hostages, or your money back!"

Chris sighed and again admitted the truth. "No, I've never seen him like this..."

"Everybody is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid..." Josh mumbled before becoming coherent again and grinning wickedly. "Chris and Ash. Chris is an ass. Ashley's a dumb-dumb..."

Hearing that, Chris rounded on him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Josh giggled and replied, "I said you're a dummy, dummy."

Exasperated again, Chris shook his head. "What's wrong with you?"

Josh then began mocking Chris. "Oh Ashley...I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you'd like me!"

Chris shook his head. He wasn't about to let Josh play this game. "Stop..."

"You know what that sound is?" Josh asked in a high-pitched tone, before becoming aggressive, "It's the sound of never kissing Ashley, you pussy!"

"Stop!" Chris demanded. This was going too far.

But Josh simply kept on pushing his buttons. He looked from Chris to Mike, leering, his thoughts obvious as he spoke.

"Yeah, you know? You might as well let Ashley sleep with Mike. I mean, at least he's got some notches on his belt, you know?" He emphasized the next four words with vulgar pelvic thrusts. "He'll treat! Her! Right! YOU'RE FUCKING PATHETIC, CHRISTOPHER!"

That was the breaking point for Chris. He grabbed a nearby wooden board, raising it.

"I'm gonna beat his head off!" he growled.

Mike held him back, however. "Don't listen to him, it's not worth it."

It was then that Josh decided that it would be a good idea to antagonize Mike instead.

"Hey, Mike." he began, sniggering, as he repeated Mike's name several times.

"What?" Mike replied at last, clearly angry.

Josh looked somewhere between crazed and serious. "What happened with Jess, Mike?"

Mike narrowed his eyes at that. "You know what happened."

No...no...I don't. I got a problem, Mike..." Josh replied, "I don't remember killing Jess..."

Mike rolled his eyes, muttering as he turned away,

"I mean, like, I feel like I would remember killing her, you know?" he explained before leering again and adopting a suggestive tone. "She's so soft...and she's probably got, like, a really tight bod..."

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Mike snapped, aiming at Josh with the gun.

Chris was startled, but didn't do anything. He trusted Mike. He wouldn't shoot Josh. He was proven right when Mike didn't actually fire.

"Ugh..." Josh groaned, before yelling, "You guys are the worst!"

"What?"

He shook his head. "Oh, come ON! You expect me to believe that you're gonna shoot me? Just little old me? Just little old me tied up here and helpless?"

Mike sighed and shook his head, turning back to Chris. "Why don't you go back to the lodge and make sure everyone's alright. I'll stay here with this lunatic until morning."

Josh grinned and replied jokingly again, sounding childish. "Oooh! Sleepover! C-can we order pizza?"

"You sure you're okay?" Chris asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, just... They'll want to know that everything's fine back here."

"You're right." Chris replied. "See you in the morning."

So with that, Mike made himself comfortable, sitting down nearby. Chris dropped the wooden board and left, heading back to the lodge to tell Ashley and Hannah that Josh was now secured. He just hoped that this was the end of it. It had been a hell of a night and he just wanted them all to be safe now. When the morning came, it would all be over.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the lodge, Hannah bit her lip as she turned to Ashley. The red haired girl looked calmer now. She'd stopped shaking like a leaf and her breathing was more even. Yet the first words out of Ashley's mouth surprised her.

"Hannah, are...are you okay?"

She blinked. "I...what? I thought that I'd be the one to ask that..."

"I am now, thanks to you." Ashley replied. "I just... Everything that we just... All that's happened, it's gotta be hard on you. I mean..."

Hannah bowed her head. "Ah, yeah, I got it... Well, yeah, it is... But right now, I'm mostly just pissed off. I can't believe that Josh would do that to all of us."

"But especially you, since you're his sister." Ashley pointed out.

Hannah nodded. Ashley was right. She was emotionally hurt more than any of them, since Josh, her own brother, had betrayed her. She and the others had tried to help him over the past year, like Mike had done for her during that time, and yet Josh had pushed them all away, only to find himself alone with his emotions. Hannah still couldn't believe that she'd been so blind, that she hadn't seen how far gone Josh had become, and now, it had cost them all so much.

'Beth, Sam...I miss you guys.' she thought sadly. 'Do I now need to add Jess to the list? Maybe Matt and Emily, too? God...'

Still, Hannah took some solace in knowing that at least Mike, Ashley, and Chris were still with her and were trustworthy.

She then looked up quickly, with Ashley leaping to her feet when Chris entered the room.

"It's alright. Josh is... We've secured him in the old shed. Mike's staying to keep an eye on him 'til the morning." he said. "We've just gotta wait here. Hopefully, we can figure everything out once there's some daylight to see by."

They both nodded, hoping that would be true.


	19. Chapter 18

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 18**

Consciousness slowly returned to Emily. She opened her eyes, only to instantly be struck with dizziness. Her head was pounding from the blood rushing to it, and no wonder.

"Oh, God! Oh my god!" she cried out. "Matt! Matt!"

He did not reply. She couldn't see him anywhere, since the tower had fallen down into the mines and she had fallen with the tower, which was once again wedged between some rocks. The only thing that had stopped her from plummeting to her death had been one of the support cables, which had tangled itself around her ankle.

She was hanging upside-down from the tower. "Oh...Jesus... Shit. OH, SHIT! Dammit!"

She could hear the ominous creaking of metal and the sounds of the cable and knew that it wasn't good. She had to get out of her current predicament somehow. Looking around wildly, she spotted something that she prayed could help her.

'That ladder... If I can just reach it...' she told herself. 'Need to get across and grab it...'

She could just make out a ladder, protruding horizontally from a ledge, level with her body. Praying that the cable would hold, Emily began using her body weight to swing back and forth, trying to build momentum until finally, she was able to grab the very first rung. Just in time too, for at that moment, the cable snapped and she grunted as her body fell until she was hanging from the ladder, holding on for dear life.

She quickly composed herself. The creaking of metal told her that she wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Alright..." she whispered encouragingly to herself.

'Let's go. I can do this. Just like the climbing frame in gym class... Only Sam was ever better at climbing than me.'

She began to monkey bar her way across the ladder. As she neared the end, the ladder shook violently as an object from above struck it.

"Shit! Shit!" she cried as she lost her grip.

Luckily, there was a rock ledge not too far below. She landed on that and rolled over, groaning as she laid on her back. She quickly sat up, however. For above her, she could see the remains of the fire tower and they were beginning to fall. Before she could react, a rock fell and struck her shin. She cried out, the sharp burst of agony nearly brought tears to her eyes. She began to push herself back using her hands and feet, remaining seated. Again, she had a narrow escape, for she just got clear of the ledge and into the cave when the tower finally fell, destroying the ledge and falling into the abyss.

"Oh God..." she muttered as she winced, examining her shin. A deep cut had been made in her leg and her jeans had been ripped.

She pushed herself up onto her feet and found that she could stand and the pain wasn't too bad as she walked. Running might be difficult, but she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

She turned and took a step into the cave. It was pitch black inside. She looked around and saw a plank of wood and noted some flaming debris and an open oil drum. If she had something flammable, she could make a makeshift torch. She rubbed her shin and looked down at her sweater. It was the only thing available.

"Oh God. Here goes six hundred bucks." she muttered as she tore off a long strip from the hem of her sweater and began to wrap it around the stick. "Better be worth it. I looked great in that top."

Now her makeshift torch was ready and she doused it in the oil and then lit it on the flames. Now she had some light.

"Alright, now we're talkin'."

Relieved that it worked, she began to make her way through the mine cavern. As she walked, she suddenly heard an unusual noise and flinched, looking around wildly.

"Hello?" she called nervously.

No reply, and the noise didn't repeat, so she continued onwards until she found the path blocked by a wooden door chained shut.

'Great, now what? Hmm...' she thought as she looked down and saw the mine cart tracks.

Turning, she looked up the slope to see a mine cart braced near the top. She made her ascent, taking a moment to look around, in case she found anything else useful. But all that she found was an old photo. Shaking her head, she approached the cart and, leaning over, pulled the brake lever and backed off. She watched in growing hope and then joy as the mine cart rolled down the slope and broke right through the sealed passage, giving her a way forward again.

She walked through the newly opened passage to find herself in a large chamber. Looking around, she saw something which gave her hope: an elevator. She approached it and looked upwards. She couldn't see all the way up, but it looked like it went up to the surface, or at least very close to it.

'A way out.' she realized with hope.

But that hope was soon dashed as she tried to use it. The elevator wouldn't move because it had no power. But Emily could see all of the cables and such and knew that it had to have a power source.

"Okay, how do I get this thing on?"

She had to find it. So, stepping off the elevator, lighting a small wall-mounted torch, she looked around.

Just then, she heard a loud scream and, on one of the higher ledges, saw a burst of fire.

"Ah!" she screamed. "What?! What the hell?"

Her heart wouldn't stop pounding and she moved with great care now, not wanting to make too much noise. All that she found was a clocking-in machine and danger signs, warning of structural collapse.

"Fuckin' busted elevator's my only way out." she muttered, fuming.

Of all the situations to end up in, she had to end up in this one. Stuck in some cold, dark, and frankly, terrifying abandoned mines, only to find that they were not so abandoned and she wasn't sure who or what was out there.

Deciding to brave her chances with the upper ledges, she approached a ladder, leading up to a wooden walkway, and began to climb. Reaching the top of the ladder, she set the torch down on the ledge and was about to pull herself up when suddenly, she heard a loud metallic snap and then screamed as the ladder broke, falling away and sending her tumbling down a slope to a lower lever.

"Fuck!" she screamed out before hitting the ground. "Ugh... God damn..."

Winded, definitely bruised, along with her other injuries, Emily forced herself to get back on her feet. She'd lost her light source and she had not wanted to do this, in order to conserve battery power, but she had no choice now. She pulled her phone out and turned on its light function, immediately illuminating a bunch of rotting skulls.

"NO!" she screamed, backing away in panic and disgust. "No, no, no!"

She tried to scramble back up the slope, to no avail. "GROSS, GROSS, GROSS! Oh God."

She gave up trying and turned to see the skulls again. "UGH, disgusting!"

Grimacing, she forced herself to walk past them and continued on the path. Thankfully, it seemed that there was only one way that she could go. She couldn't help but fret, however.

'I'm much deeper now, further from the surface, further from getting out of here and...huh?'

She heard a sudden noise and, worriedly, she called out, "Matt…?"

No reply. She still wondered what had happened to him. Did he fall with the tower earlier, only to fall all the way down to the bottom? That whole horrible scene kept playing in her head. What if he was dead? What if he had died trying to save her?

'No, don't think like that, Em.' she told herself. 'Matt's a meathead, but he's tough. It'll take more than this to kill him...surely...'

All the same, the fear remained with her as she broke through some wooden planks that were blocking her path.

She continued to explore the passage, looking for anything that would lead her back to that ledge that she needed to reach. She did note a few odd things as well, like another 1952 photo. This time, a family photo of the same miner that she had found a photo of earlier.

Biting her lip, she soon found herself forced to climb a small rock wall. She managed it well enough, but it caused pain to flare up in her injured leg again, just as it had died down to a dull throb she could control.

'Fuck. Shit... Urgh, great... Okay, relax. Keep going, Em. You can do this, you can do this.' she encouraged herself.

She finally found a ladder, which she was able to use to reach another tunnel, this one higher up. She continued to walk, looking around, just in case she ran into her boyfriend down there.

"Matt!"

Nothing. Then suddenly, she saw that the light was flickering.

"Huh? Oh no...!" she cried out and shook her phone, but it was no use. "Come on, for fuck's sake!"

She briefly saw the battery dying image before the phone went dead.

She growled, "Son of a bitch."

Just then, beyond the tunnels, she saw a burst of flame again.

"Jesus! Shit..." she whispered.

The fact that she was seeing this in the direction that she needed to go was what scared her the most.

Nevertheless, she steeled herself and walked onwards. She did not see the source of the fire, but she did see that she had made it to the ledge that she had tried to reach earlier, and there, on the ground, was her torch. Picking it up, she grinned and approached the switch that controlled the power. Flicking it, she saw lights turn on, flicker, and die, but she heard the sound of electricity and realized that the power was indeed working.

"Oh my god. Finally, something works."

Relieved, she continued to follow the path into another tunnel, hoping to find another way down to the large chamber. It was then that she reached another cavern, one flooded with moonlight. She jogged forwards, trying not to jostle her injured leg too much.

"Yes! YES!" she cried out.

It seemed like she might not need the elevator after all. She immediately began trying to climb the slope, but it was too steep and slippery to climb.

"Shit." she muttered. 'So much for that.'

She continued to look around the cavern. Two things stood out in the light of her torch. The first was a photo of Beth, showing her black butterfly tattoo. The second was a damaged, but recognizable bracelet.

"Beth?" Emily gasped, realizing.

Beth's personal items down there. That cliff, which she now realized was the same one that she and Matt had been on with the deer.

'She was down here... Maybe Sam, too. They... God, they must have fallen down here...'

She shuddered at that thought and then noticed something else, partially hidden. She pulled aside the wooden planks blocking her sight and froze when she saw several marks on the rock face. Tally marks and a date.

"That's...exactly a year ago..." she noticed. "What does this mean?"

She had some guesses, but prayed that they were wrong. She continued out of the cavern, following the tunnels again.

Then she nearly tripped over something. She glared at it, noticing that it was a piece of wood. But then she looked closer.

'It's...it's a cross. The kind used for a...makeshift grave...' She wondered briefly who it was for, then sated that curiosity by lifting the cross up to read the name on it. "Sam... Oh, Jesus."

She wished that she hadn't seen it now, for here it was, cold, hard evidence of her death. While there was nothing definite on Beth yet, Sam was dead.

Beth was definitely down here, however, and moving around. For not far away from the cross was her locket. Suddenly more afraid than ever, with memories of that day flooding back to her, Emily was more desperate than ever to escape.

She hurried through, managing to squeeze past a partially opened door, and into the next room. She noticed what looked like a slumped over figure in the corner.

'Huh? Who is that? Are they…?'

She carefully approached and touched the figure, briefly noticing that it was wearing a familiar black coat. The well-preserved, still recognizable, but unmistakably decomposing head of Samantha Giddings fell to the ground, revealing that the jacket was put around rocks, not her body.

"Oh God! Oh God!" Emily screamed, stumbling backwards, revulsion overcoming her. "Sam! No... Oh God, Sam! No!"

She almost felt like throwing up. This was beyond horrific! What was Sam's head doing there and where was the rest of her body? Not only that, she had yet to see any signs of Beth's body.

'The distance traveled, the objects, everything... Could it be?' she wondered. 'Sam died from falling off that cliff, but Beth... She must have survived, at least for a while. She must have died elsewhere down here... Oh God...What have we done?'

With a sharp intake of breath, Emily forced herself to hurry onwards, for she soon found her way through and into the main chamber again and hurried to the elevator, pulling the lever at once and let it take her up.

"Oh, come on. Let's GO!"

The elevator stopped before the surface, however.

"No!" she cried out.

She was still stuck, but there had to be another way, maybe another elevator. She stepped off the elevator and moved forwards, but then retreated, stifling a gasp as she hid. Down the tunnel to her left, she had seen him, a man approaching. He was clad in dark clothing, had a scarf pulled up over his lower face, and goggles over his eyes. He had grey, thinning, shoulder length hair. That was all that she really saw before hiding. That, and the fact that he was carrying a number of weapons, most prominently, a flamethrower, which was the source of the bursts of fire that she had been seeing.

She went stock still, freezing, and watching as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the intersection. The light from her torch mingled with the one on the wall, so she didn't need to hide it. She stayed still, watching him carefully.

"Oh God, please don't come this way." she whispered.

He didn't move. He just kept looking, as if searching for something.

But it was too much for Emily. Her nerve broke and she fled. The stranger heard her and cried out, immediately pursuing her. She cried out too, silently pleading, trying to ignore the flaring pain in her leg.

Ahead, she could see that the bridge was broken in two places. Despite knowing the pain that this would cause, she jumped both gaps, stifling a scream each time as it jolted her leg. As she ran, she could hear him pursuing her.

Up ahead, she noticed a spilled oil patch and, acting solely on instinct, she threw her torch into it as she passed, setting up what she hoped would be a fiery barricade. Unfortunately, her path took her to a dead end.

'What do I do? What do I do? I can't get away, I...' she thought frantically.

Unable to think, simply reacting, she hid herself in a crevice in the wall between two wooden boards and waited. But then, the stranger reappeared and stood, looking around before turning to look directly at her.


	20. Chapter 19

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 19**

Emily whimpered as the stranger approached her. He reached out and seized her hand.

"Urgh!" he grunted as she lashed out, striking him.

"ARGH!" she screamed, trying to get free.

He seemed to be glaring at her as he insisted, "Shhh, quiet!"

"NO! STAY AWAY!"

Just then, there was an inhuman shriek and the man turned his head, let go of Emily's hand, and instead pulled a pack off his shoulder and threw it to her.

"Use these!" he told her, raising his flamethrower in the direction that he had been looking. "And get the hell out of here now!"

Emily was so startled by this, that she stumbled backwards, falling onto her butt. She pushed herself further back, only to fall down a ledge. The man screamed as he fired his flamethrower.

"Whoa!" Emily cried as she fell.

When she finally landed on the ground on her back, she groaned, only to have the bag that she had been given land and bounce off of her stomach.

"What?!" she cried out before forcing herself up. "Oh shit... Oh shit... Oh boy."

Muttering to herself, she opened the bag and saw that it was full of flares. Seeing her chance, she pulled one from the bag and stood up on her feet, slinging the bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah!" she cried out, lighting her flare. "Oh my god!"

She was in another tunnel. This one looked a little older, but thankfully still seemed stable, or as stable as possible.

She took a deep breath to compose herself. "Alright, Em..." she told herself, "Let's go."

She began her journey down the tunnel. The path was pretty straight, although the ground was uneven and with her injured leg, Emily was soon walking with gritted teeth, trying to bear the pain. Eventually, she stopped. There was no direct path forward for her, with one exception: the wooden boards ahead of her were divided by a small gap. There was a narrow passage through.

"Okay, okay..." she told herself firmly. "This has gotta be the way."

So she carefully slipped inside and began to shimmy along the gap.

"Shit! Shit!" she cried out as a monstrous clawed hand burst through the boards and swiped at her. It passed mere inches in front of her face.

She wasted no time and pushed off from the wall and sprinted down the next passage.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck! What was that? Oh no, it's chasing me!' she thought in a blind panic, hearing the screech and skittering noise behind her.

She began to cross a broken bridge. She quickly leapt the gap but missed the second gap. Although she was able to reach the other side, she lost her flare. Silently cursing herself, she hurried onwards, glancing over her shoulder to see, to her shock, the monstrosity chasing her.

It was roughly human sized and human shaped, but it was most certainly not human. It was pale, its skin almost slick and shiny. It seemed completely hairless and naked, its eyes were white, its teeth were razor sharp and its claws were the same. It moved on all fours and leapt around, climbing the walls and ceiling as it chased after Emily.

'Oh, fuck. Oh God, no! Please!'

With those desperate thoughts, Emily soon faced a dilemma when she reached a fork in the road and had to decide which way to turn. She soon had the choice made for her when the monster leapt in front of her, blocking the right path. She turned and ran as fast as she could down the left path.

To her great relief, she saw an elevator ahead. She prayed that this one would save her and got on, pulling the lever and then pressing herself against the wall as it began to rise. Using this reprieve, she fought to catch her breath and calm down.

"Come on!" she told herself sternly. "Breathe out...breathe in... Oh God, Oh God... Snap out of it, Em."

It was then that the elevator ground to a halt, not reaching the surface, but certainly not that far from it. But the way it stopped terrified Emily. It wasn't a normal stop. She heard the skittering again, far too close. The thing was climbing on the outside of the elevator.

She went rigid and stood so stiff that she couldn't even tremble. Her heart pounded heavily and she could hardly hear over the blood pounding in her ears. But she knew roughly where it was, since she could feel its rancid breath on the back of her neck through a gap in the wood. Finally, it faded and she heard the skittering fade away.

"Okay..." she sighed.

She began to run down the passageway ahead. It was then that she realized it was a trap. The thing had been lying in wait for her, having not pursued her. Crying out, she ran as fast as she could, but it was gaining on her. Seeing a chain in front of her, connected to a trapdoor, she pulled it as she passed. Rocks fell from above, temporarily halting the beast. But it continued its pursuit. Tipping a barrel over, trying to slow it some more, Emily ran frantically.

'No, no, no, please! Don't let it... God, I don't wanna die!'

She pushed over a third barrel, only for this one to leak oil. She leapt back with a disgusted yelp. But then, an idea struck her. She pulled another flare from her bag and lit it, throwing it onto the oil leak, creating a small fire. She then resumed her flight.

Her path, however, terminated in a drop. Taking a chance, she jumped down, finding that the drop wasn't that steep. Still, she winced as a jolt of pain shot up her injured leg. She wasted no time recovering, though.

Ahead of her was a conveyor belt, which was possibly her only chance out, as she could see that it led to a drop. But if she could jump the gap, she'd reach an upper ledge. Her only hope. So she yanked the lever and climbed onto the belt, which began moving slowly. She couldn't afford to wait. That thing would catch her up any second!

"Oh, come on..." she muttered as she began to crawl up, hoping to expedite her progress. She saw another belt, but opted to stay on the one that she was currently on.

'Oh no, you've got to be kidding.' she thought in dismay.

She now realized her error as the drop from this conveyor went straight into a now active ore grinder. Biting her lip, she tried to leap the gap, but she missed the ledge and had to grab it with her hands. She cried out as one of her hands slipped, but she recovered and quickly climbed up.

She ran onwards, thinking to herself, 'Nearly there, nearly there... I've gotta be.'

She paused to look back as she entered a wooden building that, to her relief, had moonlight filtering through the gaps in the roof. She was at the surface at last. Now she had to get outside.

Her thoughts were cut short as the beast appeared again. She turned and ran through the door in front of her. She closed and bolted it shut before turning and pressing her back against it.

"Ah, oh please..." she gasped, trying to catch her breath and recover from her ordeal. "Oh please, oh please, please, please!"

She felt like breaking into tears, but she had to keep her wits about her. Just then, she screamed in agony as pain blinded her. White hot pain seared through her right shoulder as she felt something like a thousand tiny needles piercing her skin. She struggled and the pain lessened fractionally as the sensation vanished and she pulled away. The thing had broken its ugly head through the door and attacked!

The full horror dawned on her. 'It bit me! It fucking bit me!'

She turned and ran, leaping across the gaps in the floor until she reached a power line. She spotted a bar hanging from the line and, taking the risk, used it as a zip-line, narrowly avoiding the beast pursuing her.

She screamed as she escaped, until the zip-line broke and she landed in a heap in the snow below. She struggled to her feet and tried to move her right arm around. It could still be used, although the pain was still there. Just then, she heard the shriek again. Terror seized her, knowing that thing wasn't done.


	21. Chapter 20

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 20**

Sheer terror pumping adrenaline through her veins, Emily ran through the snow in a blind panic, heading for the lodge, which she could see getting closer with every step. She was sure that monster was still right behind her. She screamed louder than she'd ever screamed in her life.

Seated in the shed, watching over Josh, Mike heard the scream and leapt to his feet. "Oh crap, what now…?" he muttered.

He immediately hurried out of the shed, running towards the lodge, too. Emily, meanwhile, having reached the front door, began frantically knocking and screaming.

"Let me in! Let me IN!"

From inside, Chris, Ashley, and Hannah all leapt to their feet, hearing the noise.

"Is that-" Ashley began.

Hannah immediately cried out, "It's Em!"

Chris nodded. "Let her in, quick!"

They rushed to the front door and opened it. Emily practically fell inside, still screaming.

"Shut the door! Oh my God, shut the door!"

Ashley and Hannah dragged her further inside, while helping her to her feet. Meanwhile, Chris closed the door.

The four made their way back to the main room, guiding Emily to the sofa so that she could sit down.

"Em, are you alright?" Chris asked worriedly.

Emily fought desperately for breath. "I didn't think I'd make it..."

Chris shook his head. "You were screaming bloody murder."

"Yeah..." Hannah replied. "Are you okay?"

"You look totally wiped..." Ashley noticed.

Emily just groaned at Ashley's comment and tried to speak. Now that she was no longer running, the pain in her leg and from her other injuries were all catching up with her.

"There was something..."

But Ashley cut her off, asking, "Where's Matt?"

"Come, sit down, sit down." Hannah said softly, helping her sit.

Emily nodded, finally able to relax, now that she was seated and amongst familiar faces.

"Something's out there." she said at last.

Ashley was still on her question about Matt, however. "Did you guys split up?"

"A monster..." Emily blurted. "It's a monster!"

"Wait..."

With that single word, Chris managed to stop everyone from talking over each other. He now felt that they had a better chance of getting answers. Concern for Emily's well-being was his first priority, though.

"Are you okay?" he asked, gesturing to her injuries.

"I'm fine, I don't feel anything. I just need to calm down." She paused for a moment before whispering, "It was moving so damn fast..."

"What?"

"I just had to get away." she added.

"Away from what?" Hannah asked, perplexed.

Emily shuddered and tried to explain. "Th-there was this thing, whatever it was..."

Misinterpreting her fears, Hannah tried to reassure her. "Em, Em, you can relax. Josh was messing with us, but we-"

She shook her head vehemently. "You're not listening to me!"

Chris bit his lip and then remembered what Ashley had been saying. It was true, Emily was alone.

"Wait, Em..." he burst out. "Where's Matt? Is he okay?"

"Matt? Oh God..." Emily cried out. "We couldn't use the cable car, so we climbed the tower and then it fell and we were down in the mine, like, way down. Down in this terrifying freaking mine shaft..."

"Hold on, hold on-"

Emily continued, however. "And then it was Matt and me down there and... Oh God, I think Matt might be dead."

"Wait, what?" Chris burst out as the others all gasped.

Hannah choked out a single word. "How?"

Emily suddenly remembered, with revulsion, something important. Instead of answering Hannah, she brought it up.

"I…I was walking down there in the mines and it was dark and I found this pile and there was Sam's head!"

They all gasped in horror and she repeated the fact that she had found it, more firmly seeing the disbelief on their faces.

"Oh my God..." Ashley choked out, shock and dismay overcoming her.

Chris shook his head. "What the fuck?"

"Are you serious?" Hannah asked in dismay.

"YES, I'm serious!" Emily snapped before calming down. "I think that she and Beth fell down there. But the worst part is, I don't think that Beth died, like, from the fall. Not right away…"

"What do you mean?" Ashley burst out in horror.

Emily swallowed nervously before replying, "I don't know... I feel like she was down there...like, starving to death...for weeks...while we were all up here looking for her... We had no idea!"

Chris shook his head. "Jesus, that's horrible..."

They felt into silence for a moment before Emily remembered, "Listen, in the tower, there was a radio and I...I got through to someone, but that was right when the tower collapsed!"

She trailed off. She was trying to tell them that help was coming, but even she wasn't sure if it was.

It was then that Mike burst into the room, his eyes widening when he saw Emily.

"Em, you made it!" he cried out.

She stood up and they hugged, both relieved. "Oh God, Mike..."

Chris sighed. "Yeah, yeah, barely!"

Mike looked around, worried again. "What about Matt?"

"We're trying to figure that out." Ashley explained.

"And there was this 'monster' that was chasing her..." Chris began.

Mike smiled softly, noting Emily's condition. "She's all messed up, guys. Emily? Hey, Em?"

Before she could respond, to insist on what she saw, a loud bang was heard, the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Whoa?"

"Who the fuck can that be?" Mike muttered.

"Josh?" Ashley suggested.

Chris looked over at Mike uneasily. "Jess?"

He shook his head. "It's not Jess."

"Sorry, man..." Chris replied, but then queried, "But who is it?"

"I don't know... We should check it out." Mike answered.

So with Chris agreeing, the duo made their way to the door and Mike pointed his gun at the door, cautious.

Chris took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm gonna open the door. You ready?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, just do it already. Whoever it is has probably gone by now."

Chris still stalled. "Unless you want me to take the gun?"

"No, no, no. I think that's less good. You do the door, I got the gun." Mike replied.

Chris nodded and approached the door. He had barely turned the handle when it was suddenly kicked open. Chris and Mike both cried out and tried to urge the sudden visitor to stop. It was an elderly man, grizzled with many scars, gray eyes and hair, and carrying a flamethrower.

"Freeze... Ah!" Mike cried out as the stranger effortlessly disarmed him. "What the? Alright. Alright, just take it easy, grandpa..."

"Okay," the stranger spat in a thick accent. "Everybody just calm down. Now just move over there. Go on, move! Let me say what I came to say."

By this point, the boys had backed up and now they were all back in the main room, with the girls all staring in shock at the sudden new arrival, especially Emily. She recognized him as the man that she had met down the mines.

Glaring at all of them, the man shook his head. "I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back on this mountain. You should never have returned." he told them darkly, dropping his bag near the fireplace. "I don't know why you did, after what happened last year."

They all shared a look and Ashley nervously asked, "You mean Sam and Beth?"

"Yeah, how could you know that without being involved?" Chris queried.

Hannah, however, jumped in, glaring. "Or responsible?!"

"You hold on to your horses." the stranger spat. "I don't take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain."

Mike scoffed at that. "Your mountain? I'm sure the Washingtons would be very surprised to hear that."

The stranger laughed at Mike's comment. "Well, this mountain don't belong to me, it's true." he admitted, but then added in a growl, "But it don't belong to the Washingtons. This mountain...belongs to the Wendigo."

There was a stunned silence after that. They all shared a look, all voicing their confusion, pretty much asking what a Wendigo was. In the end, they had no choice, so they decided to hear the old man out.

The stranger glared at them all, giving them enough time to notice that the flamethrower wasn't his only weapon. He was carrying a machete and a shotgun, too.

"Now, I'm only going to tell you this once. It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. I got reasons why I want to...get it off my chest..."

Mike jumped on that, however. "See? I told you! He's guilty as shit! Guilty of something!"

Hannah quickly cut in. "Shh. Shut up, Mike!"

The stranger had a faraway look in his eye as he began to tell his story.

"There is a curse...that dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods, the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed."

There was a moment of horrible clarity for Mike as he realized now, at last, that Josh was telling the truth. The strength of what had dragged Jess off, what he had seen, it was a Wendigo all along.

Emily was now sure that was exactly what chased her in the mines, too.

Looking at them all, the stranger warned them, "You're going to need to find somewhere safe."

"The basement might be okay." Hannah suggested.

The stranger instructed them to go down and wait there. Emily reasoned that they would have to wait until dawn. That was when rescue was hopefully coming, after all.

It was while they were discussing this that Mike realized to his horror what he had just done.

"Guys..." he gasped, "I ran off and left Josh when I heard screaming."

The stranger turned to him at once. "Where did you leave him?"

Mike shuffled his feet and admitted, "In the shed."

The stranger gave a short snort. "Then your friend will already be dead."

"No, no, he can't be." Chris burst out. "We were just with him!"

"A lot can happen quickly on this mountain."

Chris wouldn't accept that, however. "No, I'm gonna go get him."

The others protested, Ashley most vehemently.

"I'm supposed to be his best friend and I let him down." Chris replied.

Ashley shook her head. "No, he let YOU down, Chris. He let all of us down."

Chris didn't care, however. He still intended to go and, despite his initial unwillingness, he agreed to accompany the stranger with everybody else being sent to the basement. They began to make their way to the back door while everybody else heading down to the basement...except Ashley, who followed them.

After giving Chris his shotgun and a few warnings, the stranger stepped out into the snow. Chris was about to follow when he heard Ashley's voice.

"Hey... Come back safely." she said softly.

With that, she suddenly kissed him and, before he could say anything, she nodded and he followed the stranger while Ashley closed the door and watched them go.

On the walk to the shed, the stranger, at Chris' insistence, began to fill him in on Wendigos and their weaknesses. He was shocked to realize that the shotgun wouldn't kill them, only slow them down. Apparently, fire was their only weakness. They also had some patterns that they adhered to, like only hunting at night. Much of what Chris heard made him even more uneasy and not too happy about his chances.

"Any, uh, pro Wendigo tips?" he asked. "Like, if I rub garlic all over me, they won't be able to smell me or something?"

"No, they'll still smell you." the stranger replied disdainfully.

"Anything like that?"

The stranger grunted, but conceded that apparently their vision was based on movement and, although he didn't recommend testing it out, standing perfectly still might make a person invisible to them.

It was then that they arrived at the shed, only to find the stool that Josh had been tied to, empty and broken. Chris rushed to it and realized that they were too late. Chris was desperate to find Josh but the stranger insisted that they leave, revealing to Chris that the Wendigo was fond of rendering its victim immobile and then stripping the skin from the body piece by piece and keeping them alive and aware while it feasted on their organs. Chris was freaked out enough to finally agree to give up and they began to leave.

They had barely gone ten paces from the shed when the stranger hissed, "Wait, don't move."

Chris froze a second too late as his foot came down on a twig that snapped.

The stranger reacted at once. "RUN! GO NOW! NOW!"

Chris darted forwards, just as a monstrous creature leapt in front of him.

He leapt back in shock, crying out, "HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The stranger blasted the Wendigo with his flamethrower, yelling out, "BACK! BACK!"

After warning Chris to get out of there, get back to the lodge, the stranger stepped back, raising his flamethrower again, when suddenly, he let out a choked gurgle. Chris watched in horror as his body hit the ground, his head hitting it separately a second or so later.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Chris gasped, shock almost setting in.

It was then, however, that he was forced to act, for the Wendigo then turned and lunged right at him.

He did the only thing that he could. He raised the shotgun and fired point-blank right in its deformed face. It fell back with a shriek and Chris immediately took off running, desperate to reach the lodge before it was too late.

He hadn't gone far when the Wendigo returned, or maybe it was another one. He wasn't sure, but it leapt out in front of him. He fired and hit it. As it fell back, he ran until he reached a ledge and leapt off. He landed and cried out as pain flared up in his ankle. Looking up, he saw the Wendigo coming back for more. He shot again and ran as fast as he could, limping on his injured leg.

'Sprained ankle. It's gotta be a sprained ankle.' his thoughts raced, but then he saw what was ahead. 'Oh shit!'

The Wendigo was back for more. But before he could react, the beast was on him. He cried out, but was cut short as it lashed out with its claws, decapitating the poor young man as easy as tearing paper. Throwing his head towards the lodge, it landed on the front porch.

"CHRIS!" Ashley screamed in horror and dismay. "No... NO, CHRIS…!"

She dropped to her knees, breaking down completely at the sight of Chris' head, his eyes were lifeless.

"Ashley, what…?" Mike began as he approached, then saw the carnage. "Oh my god, Chris... Shit! Oh..."

Despite his own horror and revulsion, Mike fought to keep it together. He knew that they weren't safe, that thing was still coming for them.

"Ash, c'mon." he said, trying to get her to stand up. "We have to go, c'mon."

Ashley continued to sob, unable to move, and had to be guided away by Mike, down the stairs into the basement, leaving the horrible scene behind them, but the memory still seared into their minds.

Meanwhile, out in the forest, a Wendigo made its way through the snow, dragging the unconscious body of Josh Washington behind it.


	22. Chapter 21

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 21**

Entering the basement, Ashley and Mike were met with the concerned faces of Hannah and Emily.

"Oh, you guys. Thank God..." Emily began.

But then Hannah noticed, "Wait, where's Chris?"

Ashley burst into tears again, shocking Hannah.

Mike bit his lip. "He...he didn't make it."

"Oh my god, Ash..." Hannah gasped, turning to the still broken girl. "I'm so sorry."

Ashley couldn't reply, still too lost in tears.

Hannah did her best to comfort her while Emily then asked, "What about the flamethrower guy?"

"No sign of him." Mike explained. "He...he must be dead, too..."

Emily gasped. "Oh... Fuck, no..."

Silence reigned after that as they all took in the enormity of what now faced them.

Finally, Mike seemed to come to a decision as he paced around the room, looking around wildly.

"Alright," he said, sounding frantic, "These all the doors?"

Hannah nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for?"

He sighed and admitted, "Another way out."

"Mike..." Hannah shook her head. "I really don't think that's a good idea. We should stay put, right here, until dawn. At least we're safe down here."

Mike turned to her, incredulous. "Oh yeah? All wrapped like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?"

Hannah tried to reassure him. "People will come for us in the morning."

"You don't sound so sure."

She insisted. "That's what'll happen. Right, Em?"

"Yeah, I mean… Right?" Emily replied, looking to the others.

Mike shook his head and stepped away. "Well, you can wait. I'm leaving."

"Mike, there's no key for the cable car." Emily warned him.

Mike bit his lip and thought for a moment. Finally, it dawned on him and he turned back to the others.

"Josh. He's gotta have it."

"Josh?" Hannah queried.

Mike nodded. "One of his dirty little tricks."

Hannah groaned. "Great. Great!"

"If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh, then..." Mike sighed and shrugged. "We're shit outta luck."

"I don't know, Mike. It's possible..." Emily began, but trailed off. When questioned, she explained, "It may have taken him down to the mine. I saw some horrible stuff down there... I think it's where that thing lives and..."

She trailed off again, noticing a collection of documents, which she began looking at closely.

"Em, what?" Hannah asked.

"Fuck it." Mike said at last. "I'm gonna get that key right from that thing's goddamned bedroom and then I'm gonna get us all the hell out of here."

Before he could leave, however, he heard Hannah and Emily talking and joined them at a workbench.

"Em, what is all that?"

Emily replied, "It's that old guy's bag..."

Mike then saw what they were looking at. "Is that a map?"

"This guy was prepared for anything." Hannah noted.

"Well...not quite."

Emily shook her head. "What is this place?"

Some of the things on the map shocked them all. Ashley had joined them by now but didn't speak.

Hannah then spotted something. It looked like a tunnel, but it was marked as dangerous.

"Wait, wait, wait, what is that?" she asked, disturbed.

Mike shook his head. He had passed the collapsed section on his way back from the sanatorium. "I was down there. It was horrible."

"You were?"

He began to relate the history of what he saw, the survivors of the mine collapse, what the reporter found out, the cover up and the fact that the owners knew that the mines were a death trap, then also, the discovery of the restraining chair. The others gazed at him in utter shock.

"I'm just saying," he told them, "It's weird how much crazy shit's gone on up here."

Emily shook her head and pointed to the map. "What's weird is there's a tunnel leading from the lodge to the Sanatorium. See?"

"That's how I got back here." Mike explained.

The others nodded and Emily remembered her own trip through the mines. "I saw this when I was down there. That's where it lives."

At that point, Ashley turned her head and her eyes widened. She could see Emily's right shoulder up close and she could see the tear through her jacket and top, the jagged-looking marks on her exposed shoulder, the dried blood around the holes in her exposed skin.

"Em, what is that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Huh?"

"What is that?" Ashley repeated, pointing at Emily's bite.

Realizing, Emily stepped back. "Ash..."

Ashley shook her head, freaking out. "Em... Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Oh no, oh no, oh no!"

Emily shook her head. She felt that Ashley was overreacted and tried to calm her. "It's nothing. It bit me and..."

"It bit you?" Ashley choked out. "What bit you?"

"That, ah... The Wendigo." she admitted.

Mike froze. "The what? Shit."

"It's nothing, really. It's not a big deal." Emily insisted.

Hannah was quick to ask if she was alright.

Emily just nodded. "It doesn't hurt anymore, really. It's not that bad."

Mike shook his head. "Em...if that thing bit you..."

She reacted at once. "I know what you're thinking and I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"Yes!" she insisted.

Hannah was more worried about the wound being dirty. "Emily, at least let us check it out."

She moved closer to check, but Mike grabbed Hannah's arm.

"Emily, if the Wendigo bit you... You could turn into one of those things."

Hannah started, "Oh, that's ridiculous."

But Mike didn't look too convinced.

Ashley, in particular, seemed terrified.

"He said it was from eating each other, remember? He said that!" she insisted, referring to the stranger.

"Wait," Hannah insisted, not wanting anyone to jump to conclusions, "Is that how it worked?"

Ashley nodded vigorously. "Yes! It happens if it bit you. You're gonna turn into one and then you're gonna turn on us! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

Ashley was pretty close to a full-on panic attack now.

Mike sighed. He hated doing this, but saw no other way. "You can't be down here with us."

"What?!" Emily cried, aghast.

"Mike!" Hannah cried out in shock.

"You gotta go."

Emily shook her head. "Are you kidding me?!"

Mike insisted, "You're putting us all in danger."

"Like hell I am!"

"Emily..." Mike growled, "You can't stay here!"

Emily couldn't believe this. Just one bite and everyone was ganging up on her.

Well, almost everyone. For at that moment, Hannah stepped up.

"Mike, just cool you head, okay?" she said, glaring at him. "We don't know if it works like that, maybe it's just a bite."

Emily couldn't believe it. All of this, and Hannah was the only one to stick up for her. "What is this?" she demanded. "Guys? What are you doing?"

Mike sighed and stepped aside, gesturing. "Door's right here. I am letting you do this voluntarily."

Emily glared at his transparent efforts. "Oh no, you're just making yourself feel better about sending me to my death, since you know there's a Wendigo out there, ready to rip me to pieces like it did with-"

Ashley cried out, "Oh my god, will you just go?! Go! Get out of here!"

Mike shook his head. This wasn't working. He couldn't take the risk. Suddenly, shocking everyone, he grabbed his gun and took aim at Emily.

"Whoa!" Hannah cried out, holding up her hands in Mike's direction. As much as she disliked Emily, Hannah didn't want her to die!

Emily gasped in horror and Hannah shook her head.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Mike, calm down!" she hissed.

But Mike still kept his aim on Emily.

Emily clambered up onto the bench and was now huddled against the wall, fear and disbelief nearly driving her to tears.

"You're going to shoot me? Mike..." she whispered. "Me?"

He just yelled, "This is the safe room, Em! It's not safe as long as you're in it. Not for us!"

"No... Don't... Don't do this!" she begged, breaking down. She remained curled in a ball, crying.

Hannah bit her lip, unsure if she could move in time. Ashley remained immobile, too.

"I'm really sorry." Mike choked.

However, even as he took aim and prepared to pull the trigger, his mind kept reminding him that this was Emily, his former girlfriend. He recalled yelling at Josh, blaming him for killing Jess, only to discover that it was the Wendigo. Now he was about to commit murder on someone he knew.

"Fuck..." He let out an explosive breath, lowering the gun. "I can't do this."

He turned away and Emily collapsed in a heap, still lying on the bench.

"Oh my god." she whimpered.

Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. She was proud of Mike for showing restraint. "You did the right thing, Mike."

"I hope you did." Ashley said, turning away.

"Maybe. For now... Shit, fuck, fuck..." Mike stammered, trying to think. "Keep an eye on her. If you see anything weird, you guys know what to do."

With that, he put the gun down and made up his mind. "No one leave, okay? It's not safe out there."

He turned and prepared to go and get Josh, to return to the Sanatorium where he hoped to find a way down to the part of the mines that he needed to get to.

"I'll be back soon." With that, he left the basement.

But he'd only just left the room when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and was surprised to see Hannah hurrying up to him.

"Hannah, I thought I said..."

She shook her head. "I know, Mike, I know... I just...wanted to say... Be careful, alright? Come back safely. We've already lost too many friends tonight and...I don't want to lose you, too."

Mike sighed, but nodded. "Honestly, I thought that after..."

"You didn't shoot her, Mike. Look, that was the right thing to do. Do not doubt that, okay?" she replied.

Mike smiled lightly, amazed at this. Hannah was clearly as scared as any of them. But like him, she was keeping herself under control and trying to look out for the others. He would never have believed this of her a year ago. The changes that he had seen during that time now stood out more. He liked this new Hannah a lot more than the one from a year ago.

When she hugged him, he returned it and began to notice, 'This is... The way that I feel about her, it's... It's different. What is this feeling? It's not like anything that I've ever felt with Emily or Jess, but...'

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about his feelings. That would have to wait until they were off the mountain. So, when they parted, he just smiled at her before turning and making his way to where he had to go.

Watching him go, Hannah sadly turned and made her way back to the basement, hoping that this wouldn't be the last time that they'd see each other.

Once there, she heard what sounded like an argument and hurried to find Emily and Ashley in the middle of the room. Ashley was clutching what looked like a journal. Going by its battered appearance, it had belonged to the stranger. Emily was getting right up in her face, furious about something.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Emily snarled.

Ashley shuffled her feet. ""Em, it says that you'll be okay... You'll be fine..."

Emily exploded. "Fine?! Mike almost shot me! Is that fine?!"

Hannah shook her head, hurrying to step in. "But he didn't shoot you!"

"And this bitch almost let him!" Emily screamed, pointing at Ashley accusingly.

"Hey! You can't blame her like that!" Hannah said defensively. "That's not fair! She was scared!"

"I'm the one who's scared!"

Ashley shook her head pleadingly. Emily was beyond furious and Ashley felt horribly guilty, worse than ever.

Finally, she sobbed out, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Emily. I didn't know what was going to happen. None of us knew!"

"There's...there's no excuse! There's no excuse for this!" Emily snapped, turning away.

Ashley stepped forwards, pleading, "Please, Emily. Please just try to understand..."

Emily rounded on Ashley. "Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!"

She attempted to slap Ashley, only for Hannah to suddenly grab her arm, moving quicker than any of them thought was possible for her.

"Hannah, I swear, if you don't-" Emily growled.

Hannah, however, glared at her, talking firmly. She'd had enough of Emily's bullshit. This was the second time that Emily had been out of line towards her friends that night and the first time that it had happened was before they were all in danger, so it was even more crucial for her to stop it now!

"Emily... Shut. The fuck. Up. It doesn't matter what Ashley did. We have bigger problems to worry about right now, like those Wendigos, and staying alive until dawn. Do NOT take it out on Ashley! None of us knew how the bite affects you, so it's nobody's fault. You can't take your anger out on other people who don't deserve it! All that matters is that you're safe from the bite, so CALM. DOWN."

With that, she let go, leaving a startled Emily to stagger back in shock while Ashley slumped back into her seat, still looking broken. Nobody had ever stood up to Emily that bravely before!

Shaking her head, Hannah sighed as she looked through the journal herself.

'God, no wonder Mike broke up with Emily. He was right about her. She's always bitching and overreacting to every little thing. Well, tough, Emily. I'm done with letting any more of my friends get hurt, especially over petty personal reasons. You've done enough damage because of that, what with Sam and Beth, and you're not even the least bit sorry about that! But I'm a changed person now and your bullshit isn't going to faze me.'

Her thoughts jolted to a halt, however, as she realized what she had just read. She read the passage through twice more, to make sure that she wasn't imagining it.

"Oh shit, shit..." she gasped. "We've gotta go and find Mike."

She sounded so panicked that none of the others questioned her, they simply grabbed what they needed and followed her out of the basement.


	23. Chapter 22

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 22**

Mike approached the doors to the Sanatorium towards the end of the tunnel. He never imagined that he'd end up back there again. He reached the door and opened it.

"Oof, okay, okay, okay, what's the-" he muttered, having forgotten how stiff it was.

Finally in, he closed and locked the door behind him. He didn't want the others to be put at risk. He began retracing his steps, past the area that was still scorched from the explosion, some debris still smouldered.

He made his way up the large stairs and began retracing his steps back to the chapel. When he finally reached the chapel, he stopped and looked around in surprise. The place was in even worse shape than before!

"Ho-lee shit." he whispered.

He looked around, noticing something that troubled him right away.

"Huh...? What happened to the wolves?"

They were gone. As he continued his search, he saw that most gated doors and regular doors were locked. On the far wall was a hole that led outside to reveal a makeshift graveyard. All graves bore the same date. Shaking his head at yet another part of the 1952 mystery, Mike continued his search of the chapel until he found a way to get around one of the gated doors, from above.

Inside, he found that it was a cramped storeroom used by the stranger. On a nearby table were things that he knew would be useful. He had a flashlight, but he pocketed it. The torch he found would be more useful as both a light and a weapon against the Wendigos. He lit the torch and picked up a pack of shells for a shotgun. By pure coincidence, there was also a sawed-off shotgun on the bench, too.

"Now I just need a pitchfork and a mob." he joked to himself, but shrugged. "Good enough."

Gathering everything, he managed to exit the storeroom and made his way to the other locked door near the hole in the wall. Reaching the door, he readied himself and shot the lock off before kicking the door open. He entered into the new corridor and heard a noise. He tensed, but then relaxed and smiled.

"Hey, big guy!" he said cheerfully as a familiar wolf stepped into view. It was the wolf that he had met earlier and befriended.

"Happy to see me again, huh?" he said as the wolf approached him non-aggressively. "Heyyy, I was hopin' I'd run into you again."

He gently scratched the wolf behind the ears, grinning as he did so, relieved to have some company.

"Alright, good boy. Alright pal, you're comin' with me." he said, standing up. "Alright, here's the plan: I happened to see a map of this place, so we're not flying blind. There should be a way into the psychiatric wing that'll take us right outside the mine. Think we can handle that?"

The wolf looked up at him and let out a small contented noise.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Atta boy."

So Mike found himself following the wolf as it actually began guiding him through the fenced outdoor path to another building of the Sanatorium, clearly signposted as the Psychiatric Ward and Restraining Area, the very place he was looking for. As they entered, however, a loud noise startled Mike. At the same time, Wolfie barked, sounding angry.

"Jesus Chri-" He composed himself quickly. "Okie dokie, boy. Calm down."

Wolfie just ran on ahead, getting past the door blocking their path, squeezing through a gap Mike couldn't.

He sighed. "Wish I could move like you, Wolfie. I think I'm stuck on this side."

Stuck, he tried a nearby lever which partially opened the door. He was able to slide through, although he noticed that the door behind him was now closed. Continuing to make his way through the circular room, trying to find a way down to the center, he reached a staircase and made his way down.

Searching the area that he found himself in turned up only one thing of interest: a death certificate. Shaking his head, he left that office and continued to follow the path. This part of the Sanatorium at least did not look as bad as the other, but still in pretty bad shape.

"AH!" Mike cried when he rounded the corner. "Oh, son of a bitch."

Wolfie barked quietly, shuffling back as they both beheld the strung up, partially devoured carcass of Wolfie's fellow four-legged canine friend.

"Huh... Jesus Christ, what the fuck have I gotten myself into...?" Mike muttered. "Fuck, man. This is truly disgusting."

Wolfie walked away, moving into the next area. Mike, however, noticed something to his left: an open cell door. He examined it, noting a few odd things.

"Huh... These doors were built like tanks. How crazy were these inmates?" he wondered aloud, before seeing the markings on the walls of that cell, looking disturbingly like claw marks.

"What went on here? This is nuts."

With a very uneasy feeling, Mike returned to following Wolfie as they made their way through the Sanatorium. Their long search through various corridors and rooms in varying stages of dilapidation turned up more clues, all of them disturbing.

The first discovery was an old film reel which showed a miner transforming into a Wendigo. The transformation had been triggered deliberately, almost like an experiment, with the man restrained in the chair that Mike had seen in the morgue.

He also found a case study dossier which detailed the discoveries in further detail. All of it made it clear that the miners that survived the collapse did so by eating those that did not and became Wendigos, subsequently breaking free and causing the mass destruction of the Sanatorium.

"Jesus hot sauce Christmas cake, this is fucking unbelievable." Mike muttered.

He continued to follow Wolfie's lead, stumbling across another clue, this one in the form of a corpse with a suicide note. The final piece of the puzzle: the dead guy was the owner of the Sanatorium and the mine. It confirmed Mike's suspicions about what had happened.

Not wanting to see any more of this, Mike hurried and made his way into the next room, relieved to find himself on the ground floor, at the center of the structure at last. Throughout his journey, he had felt the ominous presence of being watched and now he heard a loud screech. He froze. It had to be a Wendigo.

Entering the wide room properly, Mike reacted as a can fell off a small container and he shot it. He quickly loaded the shotgun again, shaking his head as it turned out to just be a rat. But then the Wendigo jumped down from the ceiling, right in front of him.

"Ha!" he cried, firing at it, striking it in the face. "How does that feel, you fuck?"

He quickly ran onwards, following Wolfie, who led the way. The Wendigo recovered and began a close pursuit.

"Jesus, fuck, fuck!" Mike cried.

He reached a fork in the path and went left.

"Shit, shit, shit." he muttered as he closed the door behind him quickly.

"Okay... What the?" he gasped as his torch died. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck...FUCK!"

He quickly barricaded the door with a nearby cabinet and hurried onwards. His flight was interrupted, however, by another Wendigo attack, but he fended it off with his machete, lodging it in the creature's face. He ran onwards, soon closing another door and stopping.

He was able to catch his breath and nod to Wolfie. Relieved that the wolf was still with him, he managed a small smile.

"Good dog...shh, shh..." he said reassuringly. "It's okay, it's fine."

Wolfie suddenly darted away, seeking cover. Taking his cue, Mike did the same, just as a Wendigo jumped down and landed on a nearby table. It appeared that they were in a kitchen of sorts. Remembering what he had heard, Mike stopped moving and did his utmost to stay still. The Wendigo looked around warily, clearly searching for him. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a bottle rolling right above him. He quickly caught it as it fell, thankfully not giving himself away. Taking a chance while it was distracted, Mike ran into the next room, Wolfie by his side.

"Dammit... Alright." he growled under his breath. "Come on, you son of a bitch. Where are you?"

He was actually getting lower now, going underground. He could hear Wendigo screeches all around and it was freaking him out.

He was in what was clearly an isolation ward, with several cells. As he neared one of the cells, a Wendigo attempted to grab him but missed. Crying out, Mike leapt back and shot the Wendigo right in the face. He then took off running, Wolfie still by his side.

"When is this shit gonna stop?!" he asked the wolf. "Jesus Chr- It's like a fucking bad dream."

He ducked as another Wendigo lashed out from its cell to attack him.

"Whoa, fuck this!"

He continued to run. Dodging another attack, he grit his teeth and slowed down. Keeping his gun at the ready, fully loading it, he looked around warily.

"One at a time, boys." he quipped, trying to cover his nervousness, his heart pounding. "There's enough of me for all of ya."

He fired at another Wendigo after dodging its attack and ran onwards, ducking under another arm and then shooting another just as he realized that this one was chained up and couldn't reach him.

"Oh Jesus... Oh Jesus... Fuck...fuck, fuck."

He hurried away, dodging another attack, and then shooting another Wendigo before rounding a corner. Ahead, he saw the end of the restraining area hallway and looking over his shoulder, a free Wendigo in pursuit.

Panicking, he tried to open the door but it only partially opened and the Wendigo was jumping across the walls towards him.

"Dammit, not good!"

He quickly shot at it and then tipped over a barrel next to him. Just then, two more Wendigos began to leap towards him. He quickly pushed the barrel and, when it was level with them, he fired, blowing up the barrel and incinerating the Wendigos, although it knocked Mike back and he grunted, muttering to himself as he recovered and then running away as the Wendigo spirits appeared and flew away.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"

He recovered and managed to get through the door, closing it and locking it again. He stopped and caught his breath. He was back in the main Psychiatric Ward. His path wasn't through there, it seemed, not with those monsters now on the loose. Luckily, he knew of an alternate way in. However, on the way, he found himself pursued by another Wendigo.

He ran ahead and, seeing the locked door ahead, blasted it, managing to break through before barricading it and hurrying onwards, jumping down a hole. Looking up, he stopped. Wolfie was standing there, looking down at him. He was beyond relieved to see that the wolf had survived.

"Hey buddy, come on down, it's alright." he said, but Wolfie didn't move and he understood. "Okie dokie, bud. Catch ya on the flipside, huh?"

Wolfie leapt over the hole and padded away. Hoping he'd be alright, Mike hurried upstairs to the exit of the Sanatorium but the door wouldn't open and a telltale shriek told him that another Wendigo was behind him.

He spun around, cursing, and fired at a nearby barrel. The room exploded and Mike leapt from it, right outside. The Sanatorium was now on fire and more and more shrieking could be heard. Recovering, Mike ran for the mines, unaware that one Wendigo, still on fire, was clawing its way out of the rubble.


	24. Chapter 23

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 23  
**

In the cold dankness of the mines, a lone figure lay on a collapsed elevator shaft. It was a young blonde woman, clad in torn jeans and a similar white T-shirt, covered in blood and dirt. She had nasty gashes on her face and chest, more on her arms and legs, so much blood covering her. It was Jessica. Against all odds, her eyes fluttered open and, realizing her surroundings, she quickly sat upright.

"Oh... Shit!"

The pain was immense. It filled every inch of her body and she could barely move without it flaring up. Nevertheless, she told herself that she had to move. She awkwardly stood up, pain ricocheting through her body and the cold gnawing at her skin.

"Shit." she whimpered. "Oh God..."

Looking around briefly, she immediately spotted something that could help her and limped over.

"Oh my god..." she whispered to herself.

She grabbed the miner's coat that was hanging from a hook and pulled it on, fixing it up so that she was covered, and felt a little warmer now. She pulled on the miner's boots that lay on the ground, too. They were too big, but she had no other choice. Wincing in pain, she struggled to fix them.

She gasped as, at that moment, she heard a loud, inhuman screech. She now knew that she wasn't alone.

* * *

Desperately pursuing Mike, Hannah led the way. What she had seen in the stranger's journal had her worried enough that she was willing to abandon the relative safety of the basement for this. Ashley and Emily all followed her, all of them carrying flashlights to ensure that no one was caught out in the dark.

"Come on, guys! Hurry up!" she insisted. "We gotta find Mike, come on."

As they hurried, Ashley looked back worriedly, biting her lip and trying to control herself. Everything that had happened so far had been overwhelming and now she just felt lost.

'Chris, oh...' she thought in dismay.

She shook her head, trying to compose herself. She could see the look that Hannah was giving her, one of sympathy, yet also urging her to not give up. She nodded and walked alongside her.

They continued onwards until eventually, they reached a door at the end of the tunnel, the door to the Sanatorium, according to the map that they had seen.

Hannah tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh shit, Mike must have locked it behind him. CRAP!" She let out a frustrated groan. "There's gotta be another way in..."

They all looked around and that was when Ashley saw the manhole on the ground.

"Wait, hey, what about this?" she said, getting Hannah's attention. "I mean, should...should we try it?"

Hannah shrugged. "Well, it's not like we got a whole lot of choices here."

Ashley conceded that point and, using a nearby pipe, was able to open the manhole cover and, together with Hannah, was able to move it aside. Staring down the dank hole sent shivers down Ashley's spine.

"Okay, ugh... Okay, this is the last place I'd wanna be in right now." she muttered.

Hannah just nodded. "So who's going first?"

Ashley let out a short laugh and Emily smirked.

"After you."

Rolling her eyes, Hannah began to slide her way into the hole and climb down the ladder.

"Not so bad." she commented. "You think this is the tunnel to the Sanatorium?"

"Of course it is." Ashley replied at once. "Where else would it go?"

They slowly clambered down one after the other until they found themselves in yet another set of tunnels, these ones rougher than before.

"Alright, let's get going, c'mon." Hannah said quickly.

Emily shook her head. "Wanna at least explain something? Exactly why we're doing this?"

Hannah sighed. "Because Mike is walking into a trap. The old guy, he didn't kill those Wendigos, he hunted them. Killing them is a last resort. They're all in the sanatorium, caged. Mike doesn't know."

That made them both freeze, staring in shock at Hannah. She just nodded grimly and hurried on. Reacting at once, Ashley hurried after her, with Emily doing so moments later.

Unfortunately for Emily, her injured leg slowed her down and Ashley and Hannah were soon further ahead than she liked. But she refused to call out on them to wait up. She scoffed at the very idea of such a thing.

'I am not weak and I will not give them any satisfaction after the way they've treated me... I WILL get through this.' she confidently thought to herself.

She continued onwards, trying to catch up.

"Hey!"

She froze, hearing that sound, a voice calling from the passage to her left. It was a very familiar voice.

"It can't be... Matt?"

The voice screamed again and Emily was sure of it this time.

"Matt? Is that you…?"

The voice continued to scream and Emily decided to investigate. "This is fucking crazy... Is Matt alive?"

She leapt down from the ledge and continued on the path, searching and calling out. She couldn't believe this. If Matt was alive, then there might be some hope yet. Finally, she found the source of the noise. It sounded like Matt was screaming and banging on a trapdoor in the floor.

"Oh God..." Emily muttered. "Oh no, no, no... No."

She almost couldn't believe it. How could this have happened? How did he even get down there?

'Why am I thinking that? What matters is he's here now.' she thought to herself sharply.

She knelt down. The trapdoor shook again and Emily bit her lip.

"Hold on, Matt. I'm right here, alright? It's me, Emily..." she said. "Just hold on and I'll get you out."

She gripped the deadbolt holding the trapdoor shut slid it open. She then lifted the trapdoor, not quite sure what she was expecting, just hoping to see Matt down below, his look of surprise. She almost grinned at the thought of it, but didn't, especially since she could still remember everything that happened, especially recently, what with her nearly being shot and such.

'At least Matt won't stand for it. He'll back me up...'

Her thoughts were cut short, however, as the trapdoor was open and beneath, apart from some more caves and a few pipes, there was, nothing.

At least at first, before suddenly, to Emily's horror, the very same beast that she had ran away from in the mines leapt out. Emily screamed, but before she could even try to move, it had grabbed her, one hand on the top of her head, the other grasping her lower jaw, its grip was like iron.

Her eyes went wide with horror as she saw, on the creature's right shoulder, a familiar black butterfly tattoo. In an instant, it all made sense to her.

'Is this...karma for what I did to you last year?' a horrified Emily thought to herself.

But that would be the last thought to ever go through her mind. The creature twisted its hands and Emily's scream was cut short. The next thing she knew, her head was on the ground, separate from her body. She had just enough conscious time to realize the full horror of the fact that she had gotten what was coming to her, then life left her.

The beast scooped up her head and dragged her decapitated corpse through the trapdoor, slamming it shut with an ominous boom.


	25. Chapter 24

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 24  
**

Continuing onwards, Hannah and Ashley soon found themselves facing a giant underground cliff with no obvious path forwards. Ashley looked at the wall ahead. It was rough and uneven. Then she saw it: the broken remains of a ladder, too high for them to reach.

"Look! Look there!" she cried, pointing it out.

They turned and Hannah groaned. "Wow, great."

Ashley bit her lip. "The ladder's toast. We're never going to make it up there!"

Hannah, however, shook her head, a steely glint in her eye. "No, no, no, I think I can... I think I can do it, it's like a rock wall."

"Are you sure? I mean..." Ashley began, before realizing, "Oh shit... Where's Emily?"

Hannah looked around wildly. "Shit, no... Em…?"

At that moment, a sound came from far away down the tunnel behind them. They heard a Wendigo's screech, followed by a series of terrified screams from Emily...and then silence.

"This... It got her! That thing is down here and it got her!" Ashley whimpered. "Oh shit, even she didn't make it..."

Hannah bowed her head. She hated to admit it; but Ashley was probably right. "Shit... No..."

Ashley turned to her, frantic. "What are we gonna do?"

Hannah thought for a moment. "Ash, you know what to do if you run into one of those things, right?"

Ashley nodded.

"Good. Put it to good use and stay wary... I'm gonna keep going. You should head back to the lodge. I've gotta get Mike."

"But..."

"I have no idea what could be waiting for us and I won't put another friend in danger. We've lost too many people tonight already. I'm not losing anyone else, Ashley!" Hannah said severely. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think that you could, if I didn't believe that you could make it. You'll be safer in the basement of the lodge than I'll be while going after Mike. Do you understand?"

Ashley bit her lip, but nodded and, after some hesitation, did just that, moving away quietly, praying that Hannah would make it back safely.

'I'll be back soon, Ashley. With Mike. I promise.' Hannah thought.

Looking at the wall before her, Hannah carefully chose her starting point and began to climb up the wall. She paused and then, preparing herself, she set her feet on some rocks and pushed upwards, leaping to a higher ledge. She grabbed the wooden board, but it broke. She gave a short cry, but quickly recovered and kept holding on.

"Ugh, come on." she muttered.

She forced herself upwards again, bracing her feet and making another leap, grabbing a broken structure before making another leap to a higher ledge.

"Come on, come on." she muttered, encouraging herself. "You can do it."

She climbed up the rocks until she finally reached the top of the wall. She grinned as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Hah, I beat you!" she said breathlessly to the rock wall. "I fuckin' beat you!"

Composing herself, she began to look around, using the light from her head-torch to guide her, keeping her hands free. She soon reached a gap in the path and opted to take the stairs to the right. She had only just got off the stairs when suddenly, there was a loud rumbling and then a smashing noise.

"Ah!" she cried out, then saw that the stairs she had just used were destroyed. "Jesus!"

Shaking her head, she continued onwards, desperate to find Mike, already afraid that it was too late. She stopped, however, when she heard a loud, strange noise.

"What was that?" she mumbled warily.

Her search to the top of the stairs didn't glean anything but a strange symbol on the wall, and a skull. Shaking her head, a little creeped out, she turned to follow a different route, along some raised walkways. Suddenly, the cavern started to shake and she had to grab the railing to steady herself.

"Oh fuck!" she cried out in surprise. "Fuck!"

Rocks fell, both behind her and in front of her, forcing her to jump the gap before hurrying off the walkway.

'This is getting really fucked up. Not good, not good at all…' she noted with concern.

Just then, she heard that noise again and shook her head, grabbing a nearby pipe for protection. Reaching another ledge, she carefully dropped down. At that moment, the metal door opposite her burst open and Mike came charging in, trying to slam the door behind him.

"Goddammit!" he cried.

"Mike!"

"Stay back there!" he shouted, as a Wendigo leapt out onto him, pinning him down.

The Wendigo appeared to be burning and now looked set, despite being wreathed in fire, to make Mike its next meal.

"Holy shit!" Hannah yelled before charging forwards. "Hey! FATTY, OVER HERE!"

The creature shrieked and lifted its head towards her. For a brief second, Hannah could have sworn that it actually looked offended by her words before she struck it with the pipe, then again for good measure. The flames faded and it finally went still. But that wasn't the end, for at that moment, a strange form burst out and flew away.

Mike quickly recovered, closing the door and panting. Hannah gasped for breath, too. Unfortunately, her pipe was now damaged and could no longer be used.

"Whoa... You alright?" Mike gasped.

Fighting for air, Hannah laughed shortly. "Uh, define 'alright'."

Mike nodded understandingly. "Alive, for a start?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Hannah replied. "Alive's good."

Mike shook his head. "The hell are you doing here, anyway?"

Hannah bit her lip sheepishly, considering the encounter. "I was gonna warn you about the Wendigos."

"I think I got it." Mike replied with a short laugh.

Hannah agreed and Mike continued. "Let's go. Let's find a way down to where this fucker lives."

Hannah and Mike both left the area, deciding to search for Josh together, since they felt a lot safer together than alone. And also because they could watch each others' backs, like they had just done.


	26. Chapter 25

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 25**

Lost in the dark of the mines, having been dragged there by something, Josh cringed as he cowered on the floor. His mind felt like it was breaking. Josh struggled desperately, trying to rise from the ground. His mind kept tormenting him. He was all alone and deeply afraid. He could hear the skittering and strange screeching that echoed nearby, then he heard something else, also echoing.

It was Sam's voice, singing, "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques. Dormez vous?"

He whimpered. His girlfriend was haunting him again. "No, no, no, no..."

Then Beth's voice joined Sam's, starting the song as Sam continued. "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques. Dormez vous?"

"Dormez vous? Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong."

"No, no, no... Not again!" he moaned.

"Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding dang dong." Beth's singing continued as Sam finished.

"Ding dang dong."

Josh was on his feet by now, gripping his skull, which felt like it was about to burst. He staggered back and forth, pleading.

"Not again! Get away, get away!" he cried in desperation and terror. "Get away from me!"

Finally, Beth finished. "Ding dang dong."

His sister's voice then dissolved into laughter as he covered his ears, tears streaming down his face.

Trying hard to compose himself, he cried out desperately. "No, you're dead!"

He soon became overwhelmed, hearing more voices.

"Sorry." Dr. Hill's tone was almost disparaging.

"You're dead!" Josh screamed in fear at his sister still haunting him.

Dr. Hill's voice continued, "You can't change what happened last year."

"Josh." Sam called out.

"Shut up!"

"We miss you, Josh." Sam's voice continued, undeterred.

Josh shook his head vehemently. "No! You're dead!"

Sam's voice suddenly became menacing. "Come with us."

Josh shuddered and tried to get a sense of his surroundings, to find a way out of this nightmare.

Suddenly, Mike's voice echoed in his head too, followed by his own, and then Chris'.

"A goddamn murderer is what you are!"

"...It's not ready..."

"You manipulated us!"

He shook his head in denial. "No, they're gonna love it..."

"You're a coward!" Chris' voice snapped. "Are you insane?!"

He heard his own voice again. "I just want us to have a good time. They're gonna love it when it's ready."

But it hadn't turned out that way. They had overreacted and now he was stuck in this living nightmare.

He heard Ashley's voice screaming in his head, her cry of terror, then suddenly, his own voice, distorted as the Psycho.

"Hello there!"

Josh shuddered and hissed, "I don't take orders from you... You can't tell me what to do..."

He heard Ashley again, from the time that they had done the seance. "Josh! I don't know what's going on!"

Josh grit his teeth, hearing the Psycho again. "How does it make you feel?"

"You can't tell me what to do anymore..."

The Psycho just laughed. "Time has run out for Josh."

But soon, the voices began to fade and he felt something else. This new feeling, whatever it was, felt as it if was guiding him.

Even as Sam's voice once again echoed, "Come with us."

"I trust you." he said at last.

Composing himself, he soon found himself standing, ready to try and find his way out of this nightmare. He stumbled along a nearby path towards the edge of the cavern, seeking a way out. Suddenly, Beth appeared, blocking the path. Her skin was heavily decayed, as expected of a corpse.

"Josh!"

He stumbled back, panicking again. "No!, No, no, no! You're not real!"

Beth spoke again, her voice hoarse and impossible. "We were all alone down there..."

"No, no... No, no, not again."

He stumbled away, attempting to head the other way. Unfortunately, this time, when Beth appeared, an equally decayed Sam appeared alongside her.

"All alone." Sam exclaimed. "But you're with us now."

"No!" he cried out. "Get away!"

"Family."

He tried to run away, down another path. "Get away from me! Get away!"

"Why didn't you save us, Josh?" Beth demanded in an accusatory tone. "Why did you want us to die?"

Josh shook his head desperately. "I didn't...I didn't want you to die, I swear!"

He stumbled away, trying to drown out the sounds of his sister's voice. But when he stopped and opened his eyes again, he saw that the wall in front of him had taken on the appearance of pig skin and a knife cut through it and the head of a squealing pig emerged. Josh screamed and cried before lashing out, punching the thing in the face. As it hit the ground, he let out a sound of disgust before panicking again as it began to writhe and turn into a gigantic pile of pig entrails, which suddenly morphed into Sam and Beth again, now bloodstained and towering over him.

"Josh!"

"No, no, n-n-n-no... I don't... I don't take orders from you! No..." he pleaded.

Sam suddenly reached up and ripped at her face, revealing her skull. "Is this what you wanted?"

"NO, NO!" he screamed. "Why are you doing this?! Leave me alone! Why are you doing this?!"

Sam suddenly began accusing him again. "Why didn't you save us, Josh? Why did you want us to die?"

"You're dead!" he screamed. "You're dead!"

Suddenly, he heard an unearthly screech and from within the walls, another face appeared, gaunt and stark white. Sightless eyes glared at him as its razor sharp teeth parted. Josh started at it in utter panic and disbelief. 

* * *

Hannah shook her head as she walked alongside Mike, searching for Josh. She did her best to ignore the sticky feeling against her shins, how her yoga pants now stuck to her shins. She had reopened or gained fresh wounds to her legs, as well as scratches on her right collarbone and up her neck a little. She also now felt the two large scrapes on her right cheekbone and above her left eyebrow. Mike now sported a black eye, several scratches and scrapes, and was covered in grime.

Neither of them said much at first, they were both still reeling from their close encounter with the Wendigo.

"I was not prepared for how ugly that thing would be up close." she said at last.

"Yeah." Mike replied, hesitating briefly before continuing. "So, I noticed something kind of weird about it..."

Hannah turned her head towards him, biting her lip, worried. "Uh...what?"

"The Wendigo. It had a scar."

"So?" she queried.

Mike sighed. "I've seen it before."

Hannah stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw these old pictures of some guy with that same scar, and he was transforming into a Wendigo." Mike explained.

Hannah gasped. "You're kidding."

Mike nodded. "It was one of those miners who'd been trapped back in the fifties in the cave-in. Which means that thing is eighty years old, at least."

Hannah shook her head and resumed walking. "Spunky for an old timer."

She just prayed that they'd find Josh soon. This was starting to fray even her nerves.

She swore to herself. This was all crazy. It had been the scariest and most nerve-jarring night of her life. The things she'd seen, the things she'd felt and endured, the feelings of violation that she had felt were still lingering. She was certain that the others felt the same. She couldn't help but worry for Matt and Jess, however.

'Despite what Mike and Emily said...I still kinda wanna believe that they're still alive.' she thought. 'Ugh, but after all this, if I get outta here alive, I just wanna crawl into a bed and not move for a week.'

She was drained, physically and mentally, but until she was able to help the others and get everybody out, she couldn't afford to rest. She relied on her adrenaline to keep her going, at least for now.

"They cleaned the place out..." Mike said at last, continuing their earlier conversation "Killed a lot of people."

"They?" she asked, suddenly realizing just what he had said. "You mean there are more of them?"

"Oh yeah."

"How many?" she asked worriedly.

Mike's answer didn't help, either. "Too many."

Suppressing a shudder, Hannah thought for a moment. "I think we're close to the lair."

"How can you tell?" he asked, incredulous.

"I don't know, I just..." she replied hesitantly, "Feel really terrible all of a sudden."

Mike sighed and replied honestly. "Ditto."

She shuddered and tried to focus on moving forwards.

Their path continued onwards until they found themselves at the edge of an underground lake, which was certainly going to be frigid cold.

"I really don't want to go in there." Hannah muttered.

Mike shrugged. "There's no other way through."

Hannah, however, wasn't convinced. She decided to see if the path to the right could get them around. As they walked, however, her hopes soon died, but then she saw something else.

"Mike, is that what I think it is?" she asked warily.

"Shit..." he muttered. "Looks like a grave."

Getting closer, they saw that it was indeed a grave, a grave that had been dug up. Something glinted in the center of it. Hannah carefully stepped in and picked it up. Stepping back out of the grave, she and Mike examined the object. It was a bracelet, a very familiar bracelet.

Hannah gasped, recognizing it. "Oh God... Mike, this is Sam's! This is her bracelet!"

"What? Let me see..." he replied, shocked.

Hannah then noticed and pointed out, "Look, there was a cross here."

"So this is where she was buried."

Hannah looked at the desecrated grave. "But...who dug her up?"

Mike shuddered, disturbed. "Let's keep moving."

Hannah quietly agreed and they returned to the ledge that they had approached earlier, by the waterside. Hannah cringed as she looked over the murky water before sitting down, Mike sitting next to her.

"Fine...I'm going in." she said at last.

But she hesitated. Mike just shook his head and slid into the water. He waded forwards a few steps.

"Come on, it's okay." he told her as reassuringly as he could.

Hannah shook her head. "You sure?"

"I'm not dead yet."

"Famous last words." she replied casually.

Still, she slid into the water and gasped audibly.

"It's freezing! I can't feel my fingers." she exclaimed.

Mike just nodded and they continued to wade through the water. Suddenly, Hannah felt herself panic as the floor sloped down sharply, causing the water to get higher. Hannah was soon in water nearly up to her neck.

"Holy shit." Mike muttered. He wasn't quite as submerged.

Looking around worriedly, Hannah spotted a ledge to her left and began making her way towards it in desperation.

"Wait a minute, I thought you'd reached the deepest part."

Mike shook his head, turning to follow her. "I didn't say that. I said it was okay, meaning, like, there weren't any sharks or anything in here."

"Sharks." Hannah groaned. "Great. Thank you!"

Rolling her eyes, she was relieved to find that the path to the ledge was sloping upwards.

Reaching the ledge, she pulled herself out. Mike followed her and they looked around. Sadly, there was no way to go forwards from there. Hannah shuddered and groaned, but then spotted something on the ground. It was a journal. She picked it up and began to read through it.

'This is Beth's handwriting. Huh, what's this?' she thought to herself, before reading the entry aloud.

"I'm sorry, Sam... I have no choice. It's the only way I can survive anymore. If someone finds this, I'm sorry. I had to... I had no choice."

"What does it mean?" Mike whispered.

Flipping through the journal, she reached the last page, which was a mess of scrawls and suddenly, a disturbing thought reached Hannah.

"Oh God... It all makes sense..." She turned to Mike. "I think...Beth dug up Sam. It was Beth!"

Mike froze, catching the double meaning of her words. "No, that's...that's ridiculous."

He was thinking about what had been revealed by Emily, how she had found Sam's head, but nothing else.

"Michael... Michael, it has to be. It's the only thing that makes sense. Sam died in the fall."

"So what, what does that mean?" he demanded.

"So Beth must have buried her." Hannah replied. "Beth was down here...for..."

"I don't believe any of this!"

Hannah shook her head. "She would have been starving, she would have been desperate. My sister is...the Wendigo. We need to find Josh right now!"

Mike sighed, but nodded, both of them now thoroughly freaked by their shared realization. They now knew just what had happened to Beth and Sam on that fateful night a year ago.

They hurried back and slid back into the water, making their way across to the other side. But Mike noticed something that worried him.

"It's getting deeper."

Hannah cringed. "Yeah, um..."

She was now up to her chin, but pushed on. A little further ahead, Mike spoke again, his words a relief to her in the frigid water.

"Okay, okay. Hey, it's sloping up again. We're gonna make it."

Relief flooded her, but she replied in desperation, "Oh my god, don't jinx it!"

However, they made it to the other side and climbed out, much to their relief. Quickly gathering themselves, they approached the metal door at the other end of the ledge. They attempted to open the door when it suddenly burst open.

They reacted in surprise as water gushed from the door. Amongst the water, however, shocking them both and making Hannah scream, was a decomposing head.

"Jesus, she...Jee..." Mike stammered.

They slid through the door, suddenly dreading what they were going to find.


	27. Chapter 26

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 26**

Inside, in varying states of decay, hanging from the ceiling on meat hooks, were bodies. One of them they recognized right away as the stranger, even without his head. Two others stood out with sickening clarity: Chris and Emily, recognizable despite lacking their heads. What neither of them saw was that in the water, watching them intently, was a Wendigo.

Still reeling from their discovery of the bodies, Mike suddenly heard something and he looked through a gap in the boards.

"Wait, hold on. I think I saw something."

Hannah joined him and they looked carefully. At the other end, jabbering to himself, was Josh. Hannah cried out his name as they found a door in the wooden wall and hurried through towards him.

"I don't take orders from you. You can't tell me what to do..." Josh was mumbling.

"Hey! Hey, Josh!" Mike called out.

They both shared a worried glance as Josh continued jabbering. They watched as Josh seemed to not even see them.

"Careful, Mike. He hasn't taken his medication, so he's not in a good way." Hannah warned, concerned.

Mike shook his head, recalling the incident in the shed. "Yeah. He's tripping or something, alright. Josh!"

As he shouted, he smacked Josh in the face. Josh staggered and blinked.

"M...Mike?"

"Josh... Hey, man." Mike replied, a little relived that he seemed himself again.

Josh shook his head, nearly whimpering. "Don't h-hit me, p-please..."

Mike shook his head. "You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket."

"We didn't think that we'd get you back..." Hannah said softly. She then bit her lip. It was hard, but she had to tell him the truth. "Josh...Beth was down here for...weeks...a month?! She dug Sam up!"

Josh shook his head, unable to comprehend what Hannah was saying.

Mike, however, dissuaded her from continuing her explanation and they instead planned to find a way out. Josh handed over the key for the cable car to Hannah when asked and then she saw something: light coming from above, from a cliff wall.

"See that over there?" she said quickly. "That means there's a direct way out. C'mon."

Mike shook his head. "There's no way that Josh is gonna make it up there."

Josh just nodded, still looking a little out of it.

Hannah thought for a moment. "Okay, if you can help me up, I can go back to tell the others we're okay. You bring Josh back the way we came and we'll all meet at the lodge.

"Yeah, yeah, good." Mike replied with a smile. "Be careful."

Hannah nodded. "You, too."

With that, he gave Hannah a boost and she began climbing the wall. After watching Hannah climb up the cliff wall until she was too far away, Mike turned to Josh.

"Alright, let's go, you fucked up son of a bitch." Mike said as good-naturedly as he could.

Josh shuddered, but nodded, following Mike. He had almost lost hope, but now, here he was with one of his friends again. Or at least, he hoped that he could still be considered a friend. At he very least, he was glad that they were guiding him out of this trap.

Rubbing his jaw, Josh spoke up, his voice slightly hoarse. "You didn't...you didn't have to hit me so much, man."

Mike grimaced. "Ah, yeah. I'm sorry about before, man... I thought you killed Jess."

There was an uneasy silence before Mike sighed. "I was wrong."

Mike took a moment to compose himself, getting ready to enter the room full of bodies again. He glanced back at Josh, worried, before entering. As they entered, Josh's eyes went wide.

"No... No!" he cried out in horror.

Mike urged him to keep moving and they did. As they walked, however, Josh started muttering.

"I know, I know, I know, I know... Okay..." He seemed to be talking to himself again.

Mike, however, was able to, at last, guide him out of the room and they reached the water's edge.

Josh looked over at Mike worriedly. Mike just nodded and hopped down into the water. Josh hesitantly followed and they soon began wading through the water, heading for the other side. Josh finally felt himself calming down as they progressed. Slowly but surely, things seemed to be getting better.

"Oh fu-!" Mike cried suddenly before he was pulled under the water.

Josh froze, his heart hammering in his chest, mind racing. Then suddenly, a beastly creature leapt from the depths! It towered over him, sinewy and completely white, eyes apparently blind, razor sharp teeth and claws, it was the monster he'd seen in his nightmare.

"NO!" he screamed, trying back away, "You're not real. No, you're not..."

He was cut off when the monster grabbed him. Then he saw its right shoulder, and saw something impossible. For there, on the monster's shoulder, was a black butterfly tattoo, a very familiar black butterfly tattoo.

Josh was crushed as he realized, at last, who this monster was. "Beth?!"

The monster paused, staring at him for a moment, then suddenly picked him up and began to drag him away.

"Noooo, noooo!" he screamed, terrified.

But it was no use. The Wendigo, now revealed to be Beth, was just too strong. Helpless and unable to save his friend, Mike remained covered behind a rock, seething at his own helplessness.


	28. Chapter 27

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 27**

Matt grunted as he climbed over the metal fence, which had been partially blocking his path.

'Fuck, how long have I been down here?' he wondered to himself. 'Shit, everything's messed up. I can't find my way... And Emily is...' He prayed for some miracle, for Emily to be alive, that the fall hadn't killed her.

Looking around, he found himself near a table. Upon which was a lantern and a lighter. He smiled at the chance to finally have some light and quickly picked up the lighter, opened the lantern, and lit it. Satisfied, he put the lighter down, picked up the lantern and turned...just in time to see a figure swinging a shovel at him.

Acting on instinct, he made a grab for the shovel, trying to arrest its momentum, only for it to snap in two. The figure let out a terrified scream, a terrified feminine scream that he recognized.

His eyes widened as the light of his lantern revealed the figure to be a very familiar beige blonde girl, but she looked drastically different. She was covered in blood, with massive scars across her face and badly torn clothing. There appeared to even be a small gouge in her cheek, most certainly caused by claws. She was wearing a ratty old miner's coat and boots over her torn jeans and bloody, ragged, white T-shirt. It was clear from her uncontrollable shivering that she was freezing cold. Her paleness only emphasized the blood even more. Her eyes were completely surrounded by dark shadows and were puffy.

Even like this, he still knew exactly who she was, but he had to be sure. "Whoa. Jess, is that you?"

She whimpered a little, but nodded. It seemed that even the smallest motion was hurting her.

"Jesus. Jess, what the hell happened to you?" he queried in disbelief. "How the fuck are you still alive?"

"Yeah..." she wheezed, the only answer that she could give.

It seemed that even she didn't know how she had survived whatever had happened to her.

"How did you end up here?" he asked worriedly.

Jess shook her head, her voice hoarse. "Mike and I were... We were messing around and, and...then it was..."

"What?"

"I don't...I don't know..." she almost whimpered. "I was by the window and there was all this glass and then I was in the snow and then it was...moving so fast... Fuck."

She shook her head again, almost feeling tears welling up in her eyes once more. She did her best to compose herself and finish her statement. "And then I was...I was down here."

"Jesus." Matt whispered.

Jess grimaced as a fresh wave of pain assaulted her. "Oh God..."

"Can you move?" Matt asked worriedly, looking around.

They could both hear the unearthly shrieks around them and the sound of something skittering across rock.

She nodded slowly, her voice weak as she replied, "Yes."

Matt took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, come on, Jess."

She followed as he began to lead her away, hopefully to safety.

As they walked, something caught his eye. He approached and was startled by what he saw: a mining elevator, in ruins, with rocks around it, apparently caved in. He mentioned it to Jess.

Her response startled him. "That was me... I fell through that roof."

He turned to her, amazed. "You fell this far? Jesus, that makes two of us."

"What?" she gasped, her turn to be startled.

"I fell off a goddamned fire tower down here." he explained.

Jess let out a short gasp before breathlessly replying, "You're kidding me."

Matt shook his head before they decided to press on and they made their way down the only path available now, a tunnel by some rail tracks and tool stands. They walked in silence, except for Jess' labored breathing as they turned and made their way down another tunnel, this one mostly bare rock, until they reached some wooden walls. Suddenly, they heard the screech again. It was louder and closer.

"Huh?" Matt gasped.

Jess looked around, desperate. "Fuck."

Matt began to move quickly. "J-Jess?!"

He looked over his shoulder. She was following, but not quickly. She was stumbling, she couldn't run, the pain was too much. He stopped around looked around. He could keep running or he could take cover behind a gap in the wooden wall.

"Which way?" he muttered.

Jess' whimper of pain decided for him. He knew that she couldn't keep up if he ran, but he was damned if he was going to leave her behind to be killed by whatever was chasing them.

"Alright." he said at last. "Come on, Jess."

She followed him into the gap behind the wall and they pressed themselves up against it. Matt gently motioned for Jess to stay quiet and she did her best, screwing her eyes shut against the agony ricocheting through her body. They could hear the skittering and screeching behind them and the ragged breathing of the creature, then it began to fade as it moved away.

Suddenly, Jess felt dizzy and began to stumble. Acting quickly, Matt caught her, making her cry out.

"Jeez..." he whispered, looking around. Nothing had heard them. "Does this hurt?"

Jess' only response was choked. "Oh God..."

"Alright, alright..." he said gently, letting her go once she could stand.

He gently guided her out and they began to move down the tunnel, a lot more wary now. Matt quickened his pace slightly, but not to a run. Jess was still able to just about keep up.

"Let's go, we gotta do this to get out of here." he told her. "Come on, come on, come on, come on."

Urged on by Matt, Jess followed as quickly as she could.

As they turned another corner, they heard the screeching again.

"Jess!" he cried out in a panic. "Jess, come on."

Looking back, he could see the creature leaping around the corner behind them. He then stopped, as did Jess. The path split and they could go left and continue or he could try and break through the wooden boards to his right, where he could see light filtering in. He knew that Jess couldn't make it down the long path to the left, not with that thing so close behind them, so he barged through the boards, breaking them.

"Whoa!" he cried as he nearly overbalanced, almost falling off the cliff.

They were outside the tunnel, with the snow falling down. Seeing a ledge to their right as Jess joined him, he moved carefully over to it with Jess right behind him.

"Ugh..." she groaned as she felt the cold immediately bite into her, turning her almost numb. "Oh my god... Okay..."

She edged up next to Matt and they stopped, staying as still as they dared. The creature leapt out and looked around, growling, but didn't seem to see them. It finally turned and leapt back into the depths of the mines.

Matt let out a breath of relief and Jess slumped against the rock wall behind her, letting out a dry sob. They both looked up in relief at the rising sun and heard the blessed sound of approaching helicopters.


	29. Chapter 28

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 28**

Gritting her teeth, Hannah clambered up until she reached a ledge large enough to stand on. She bent over, her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. Recovering, she stood and looked upwards, biting her lip.

'Nearly there... Just this...last wall, then I'm up.' she told herself as she examined the final portion of wall that she had yet to climb.

She knew that she couldn't delay any further, she had to get a move on. So, taking a risk, she jumped to grab one of the higher rocks. She caught it, was able to catch her foot in a niche, and then was able to grab another rock higher up and pull herself upwards.

Looking around, she spotted an overhanging rock above her head. Tensing her muscles, she launched herself up again, grabbing onto it. She hauled herself upwards until she had a good grip on the surface of the wall, her feet now also secure, with one on top of the overhang.

"Ugh..." she grunted with the effort. "Come on."

She looked up. She was very nearly at the top, just a little further and she would be at the surface. She climbed around, grabbing a nearby branch, set her foot properly, and then grabbed the ledge above. She hauled herself up and then, panting breathlessly, she stood, up at the surface. She was in the forest again with the snow falling around her. Shivering, she blew on her hands, trying to warm them up.

She shook her head. 'Pity these clothes weren't suitable for this kind of weather. Still, I just have to bear it. I'm nearly there.'

She knew the way back now, since she could see the lodge in the distance and, close by, the shed. She immediately began walking. Standing still wouldn't help her, she'd just freeze.

'Although, if a Wendigo comes along, it'll be my best defense... Freezing to death.' she thought with a touch of dark humor. 'Don't think they'd like a Hannah popsicle.'

She reached a brief divergence in the path, but both seemed to lead the same way, so she choose the right path and followed it. When they finally met, she stopped.

"Oh man..." she groaned.

She was at a lake that she'd have to wade across. Just when she thought that she was done with that, just when she had finally dried off. Shaking her head, she dropped down into the lake and shrieked from the cold that instantly bit into her skin, soaking her clothes. She cringed and forced herself onwards, wading through the water towards the other end when she suddenly heard a loud noise. She paused and looked around, but nothing happened.

'Oh please don't say I'm getting paranoid now.' she thought worriedly.

Composing herself, she continued until she reached the other end and climbed out. Shivering uncontrollably, she moved onwards, wrapping her arms around herself. She didn't dare stop until she reached a high ledge. She saw only one way down. Taking a deep breath, she began to slide down, but lost control.

"Whoa..." she cried out. "Oh shit!"

She grunted in pain as she reached the bottom, only to fall hard on the ground, on her stomach.

Groaning, she pushed herself upwards. She had to keep moving. Her walk was interrupted by the screech of a Wendigo. It was loud, as if it was nearby. Instantly, panic seized her. She was at the shed, so close to the lodge and to safety.

She quickly made up her mind. 'Crap, gotta take the risk.'

She immediately took off running, going straight for the lodge. She looked over her shoulder desperately, fearful of pursuit. Looking forwards again, she barely had any time to react before ducking under the tree log.

"Shit!" she cried at her close call.

She quickly stopped, scoping out the area. She couldn't hear any more signs of pursuit, but she still had to get to the lodge quickly. She continued to run, jumping down the next ledge and over a broken jar in the path. The lodge was within sight now. She ran up the stairs, onto the porch, and went straight for the door. But it was locked and she couldn't open it.

"HEY! HEY! COME ON, OPEN UP!" she cried out in a panic. "GUYS, COME ON! ARE YOU IN THERE?! LET ME IN!"

"Hannah?"

She screamed and spun around. "Shit, Mike!" she cried in relief before really looking at him. "Oh gosh, you look terrible."

Mike shook his head. "Gonna look worse if we stay out here. Come on!"

Hannah looked around. There was no other way around it. She quickly picked up a rock from the ground and used it to smash one of the glass panes in the door. Through it, she was able to reach in and unlock the door. She and Mike quickly entered the lodge, stopping to catch their breaths.


	30. Chapter 29

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Chapter 29**

It was then that Hannah realized that Mike was alone.

"Okay... Mike, w-what happened to Josh?" she asked fearfully.

Mike shook his head sadly. "It got him."

Hannah grimaced. She had lost her brother to the Wendigo. "Oh God... What an awful way to go..."

She shook her head and, acting automatically, flipped the lights on, but Mike quickly turned them back off, shaking his head. Hannah quietly agreed and, after a brief discussion, they began making their way down to the basement, checking for the others.

"How do you rate our chances of survival?" Hannah asked nervously.

Mike sighed. "I'm trying not to think about it."

It was then that they heard the screams. The door to the basement was open and they could see Ashley running frantically towards them.

"GET OUTTA HERE! GO, GO, GO!" she cried out as she saw them.

They both stared as she ran past them, turning to watch her go. They turned back again, just as two Wendigos appeared and began approaching the door.

"Hannah..." Mike called, warning, "Run...RUN!"

He turned and ran. Hannah, however, quickly darted forwards and pulled the door shut, locking it. She heard the thumping as the Wendigos began striking at it. She just prayed that it would buy them some time as she ran after the others.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped dead. The others were already standing, rigid and terrified.

"Don't...move..." Mike whispered to her. "Don't fucking move a muscle."

Hannah had no intentions of moving. For there, hanging from the large chandelier decoration in the middle of the room, was a Wendigo, one that looked just like the one Emily described that had chased her in the mines.

Hannah did her best not to move, which was no easy task after her trip through the icy lake. The Wendigo snarled and partially turned. It was then that Hannah's sharp eyes caught it. She heard Mike gasp and knew that he had seen it, too. She had been right all along, for there, on the Wendigo's right shoulder, was a black butterfly tattoo.

'It's Beth...'

Just then, they heard the skittering and went tense all over again. The other two Wendigos were now there. Wendigo Beth saw their movements and growled. As one of the Wendigos leapt somewhere out of sight, the other approached the middle of the room, just as Beth leapt down and immediately tackled it.

The two were soon struggling for dominance and Hannah quickly glanced around. Mike was a few feet to her right, Ashley further away, near the door, but frozen in fear. There was no way that they could all make it out together, at least not like this.

Suddenly, the Wendigo screeched as Beth threw it into the stairs, breaking them, and then against the fireplace. Mike's eyes widened when he saw the damage, and also a chance.

The Wendigo recovered and climbed the wall. Beth quickly followed, both of them screeching and snapping at each other. Mike's eyes were fixed on the broken gas pipe, however, leaking gas into the room. He remembered the information about the Wendigos' fatal weakness being fire. Right now, killing them was the only option left. It wouldn't be easy, they'd need someone to ignite the gas, and whoever did it would more than likely be incinerated, too. Looking around, he spotted a bare light bulb. If they could just break it, they'd have the means to make a spark. The light switch was right by the door.

'It's crazy, but...but it's doable...' he told himself.

Glancing at Hannah, he saw that she had been following the same line of thought. She nodded in agreement. They had a plan, now they just needed to put it into action.

The Wendigos resumed their fight until Beth threw away the Wendigo that she had been attacking. The Wendigo that had disappeared from sight returned, leaping at her as she responded in kind. Both of them collided in mid air, fell to the ground, and Beth soon recovered. Seizing the other Wendigo by the head, she smashed him repeatedly into the ground before simply pulling his head off.

Throughout this, Mike had been slowly edging his way towards the light bulb. Meanwhile, Hannah stepped back, shocked and awed by the raw display of power and terrified by it. She knew that if Beth or any of the other Wendigos got a hold of her or any of the others, it was over for them. There would be no wriggling free, no last minute reprieve, just a quick, messy, and extremely painful death.

*CREAK*

Hannah froze as she stepped on the floorboard. 'Crap.'

She immediately went still as Beth turned to her and screeched. Hannah remained as still as possible, which was no easy task, due to her recent cold swim. Her muscles were aching to shiver, but she couldn't afford to. She resisted and resisted while Beth stalked towards her, snarling.

Mike took advantage of this moment to reach the light bulb and, grunting with effort, squeezed it until it broke. The sound made Beth screech again and spin around. Hannah looked over desperately to where Ashley was.

They were all too spaced out, they couldn't all escape at once and the lodge was still filling with gas. The explosion would be dangerous enough without Ashley being in danger, too. Especially since she was still frozen in fear. She had a chance to escape but she wasn't taking it. Finally, catching her eye, Hannah nodded to Ashley, knowing that her chance had passed, and tensed, readying herself.

Mike cringed as he looked back from where he had broken the light bulb, thus readying it. Beth was approaching him. Hannah thought frantically. She had to act before it was too late. With the light bulb broken, they only needed to flick the switch and the building would explode. But she couldn't do that yet, not with the others still inside, they'd be incinerated in the blast. She wasn't even sure that she had a chance to survive it herself, much less anyone else.

She saw Beth closing in on Mike. 'Got to do something, right now... Distract her... Anything.'

She knew it was risky, it would allow more gas to fill the room, the explosion would probably be larger, but that was a risk she had to take. She could only see one option: she had to get the Wendigo's attention back on herself.

"HEY!" she cried out, as loud as she could.

With another screech, Beth turned and stalked towards Hannah. She did her utmost to stay still, despite the chill that seeped through her skin. She also prayed that the gas interfered with the Wendigo's sense of smell. It would be a bonus if it did. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ashley finally making her escape.

Now, she just had to get Mike to safety. Unfortunately, at that moment, Beth turned back towards Mike again, looking around and growling. Acting purely on instinct, Hannah reacted, running to the nearby pillar and pressing herself against it, making as much noise as possible.

'C'mon, c'mon, leave Mike alone and look for me. C'mon.' she found herself desperately thinking. The things that she did for her friends surprised even her from time to time.

She heard the footsteps and felt the Wendigo's breath as it drew up alongside her. As it turned away, Hannah glanced out from behind the pillar and just saw Mike hesitantly edging towards the exit. She was almost there now.

She darted to another section of the wall and hid. Beth turned again and drew closer, closer than ever before, her face mere inches from the side of Hannah's. Hannah screwed her eyes shut tight, staying as rigid as she could, despite the overwhelming desire to shiver, despite the rancid breath of the Wendigo as it screamed right in her ear. But despite everything, she remained where she was. Beth turned away and began to edge further into the room.

Glancing out, Hannah saw Mike right by the door. She nodded to him and he slowly, hesitantly, exited. Now it was finally her turn. She was the last one.

Taking a deep breath, she did the only thing that she could: she ran straight for the light switch. She heard the screeching and knew that the other Wendigo was chasing her. Desperation pumped massive amounts of adrenaline through her veins. She ran faster, faster than she'd ever ran in her life, everything pounding through her body. The beast behind her screeched louder. She didn't dare look, but she caught a flicker of movement out the corner of her eye where Beth had been, and then heard the fighting. Beth had attacked the other Wendigo.

'Beth...forgive me...'

With a yell, she leapt forwards, hitting the light switch and propelling herself out the door. The explosion was deafening and made her grunt as the force of it hit her, causing her to be thrown back. Inside, the Wendigos were incinerated.

Outside, Hannah groaned and slowly picked herself up from where she had landed in the snow. Mike slowly stood, too. Ashley remained seated nearby, still looking shell-shocked and not quite with it. They stood, watching the lodge burn in silence as the sun rose, bringing daylight at last, and with it, the sound of helicopters approaching.


	31. Epilogue

**Until Dawn: Seeking Hope**

**Epilogue  
**

Mike sighed heavily as he approached the door. He was unsure of how to do this.

After escaping the mountain and being rescued, the survivors had been interviewed by the police and when their stories hadn't been believed, a team was sent to the mines. Only a few came back, and it was revealed that they had found Josh down there, partially transformed into a Wendigo.

The news had hit Hannah the hardest. She had lost her sister and now her brother, too. But she had taken solace in the fact that Josh and Beth could now be at peace.

'Doesn't make her grief any lesser, though. Going through something horrible like this twice in one year. And I... God...' he reflected.

It was during those last few hours on the mountain that he had realized the truth, and now he needed to reveal it. It wouldn't be easy or nice for the person involved, but hiding it wouldn't be fair to either of them.

It was only after they'd been admitted to the hospital and gotten their injuries fully seen to that Mike had learned the truth. Five of them had survived, including, to his amazement, Jess. He now approached her hospital room, noting Matt outside of it.

Looking up and seeing him, Matt nodded. They'd never been particularly close, but the events on the mountain had changed all of them.

"Matt, I..." Mike began, "I just wanted to say... Thanks for saving Jessica."

Matt nodded. "Y-yeah, I just-"

"I am so sorry about Em. If I could've done something..."

Matt shook his head. "Don't. I...I don't wanna talk about it. Besides, if you'd been there, you'd have been dead, too. You'd better go in and see Jess."

It was as if Matt knew what Mike had come there to do. Still, Mike nodded and cautiously entered the room.

Inside, he found Jess, who stared at the sound of the door opening, seated upright on her bed. She was a mess of bandages and various dressings, covering an assortment of wounds.

"M-Mike..." she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Moving closer, he nodded. "Hey, Jess. I..."

"I was wondering when you'd show up." she said quietly. She managed a small ghost of a smile as she tried to joke. "Who would've thought that I'd end up with two knights in shining armor?"

Mike shook his head. "Jess, Matt saved you, not me."

Jess looked up at him, trembling. "No, you... If you hadn't been so quick to chase after me, to try and save me... That thing would've killed me long before Matt could've found me. You interrupted it when it was trying to do so."

Mike wasn't sure if he wanted to know more. He also wasn't sure if he should share the truth about the Wendigo, or its identity.

But he couldn't stall any further. "Jess, I... I'm sorry, but we need to talk."

Jess shuddered again. "I... Mike..."

"I'm sorry." he said softly. "What happened on the mountain really made me think about my life and I began to realize... What we had, Jess...it... Even if we wanted it to be, it wasn't real."

Jess shook her head. "But we were...we were so... Why?"

"I thought that I loved you, even when I began to doubt our relationship. I still thought that I felt something, that it would work." Mike explained.

"But now it won't." Jess finished for him, a sob escaping her.

Mike lowered his head, feeling horrible. "I was just fooling myself the whole time. I didn't really know what real love felt like."

Jess was clearly in a fragile and vulnerable state, yet here he was, trying to break up with her.

"I wish that it didn't have to be this way, Jess. But think about it: we've all gone through too much together to lie to each other now. I know how much you care about me, but relationships need to be a two-way love, not one-sided affection. We could keep pretending, but eventually in the end, it would just make us both miserable, living a lie. Therefore, this breakup needs to happen for both of our sakes. It's for the best, for both of us, to do it now instead of later."

Jess was crying now, but trying to hold it back. The whole incident on the mountain had weakened her control on her emotions, but she was still clinging stubbornly to what little pride she had left.

"I just... Mike..." she choked out. "Just tell me one thing. The reason why you're telling me all of this... Is it because there's someone else and she opened your eyes to what real love is like, and does that person make you truly happy?"

Mike couldn't deny that this made him feel worse, but he needed to tell the truth. "Yes and...yes."

Jess let out another soft sob. "I wish that I could...find someone like that."

"You will." Mike replied, before recalling what he had seen earlier. "Maybe you already have and just don't know yet. But you deserve someone perfect for you and I know they're out there, just waiting for you."

Jess looked up at him as he said that. "Maybe it wasn't real, but Mike, what we had...it was good, right?"

"Yeah, it was." he admitted.

That seemed to cheer her up, just a bit.

* * *

It had been two days since Mike's talk with Jess, where they had finally broken up. He still felt awful about it, but knew that he had done the right thing. He'd heard from Matt that whenever she wasn't screaming from nightmares, she cried all night.

However, she seemed calmer today. Nevertheless, Mike knew that he couldn't delay any further. He'd had time to sort through his emotions and was beginning to see the truth in a much clearer light.

"Mike?"

He turned and managed a lopsided smile, for standing there was the very girl that he had just been thinking of.

"Hey, Hannah."

She walked up to him. Apart from Ashley, who was still in a bad way mentally and emotionally, and Jess, who was still recovering from her wounds, Mike, Hannah, and Matt had been discharged from the hospital that day.

"I was hoping to talk to you before we leave. There's something that I need to tell you." she said.

Mike bit his lip. "Actually, I've got something to tell you as well."

Hannah raised an eyebrow at that.

"Well, it's just... I've realized it at last, Hannah. I've had terrible luck in picking girls, considering everything that I went through with Emily and Jess. I never actually loved either of them. Yet, the time that we shared together over the past year... I didn't realize something, but I do now." he explained. "You showed me what true love is, made me feel something that I've never felt for any other girl. I...I love you, Hannah."

Hannah froze, eyes wide. Mike could swear that she was blushing. But then she smiled a shy smile that he hadn't seen on her face for over a year.

"Mike, that's... I love you, too. I have for months now. But by the time I truly fell for you, you had started dating Jess. I didn't want to get in the way, so I respected your choice. But I knew that I still loved you. Thank you. You've made me happier than I've been in over a year."

She paused and Mike smiled a little. He gently took her in his arms and spoke.

"The fact that you didn't interfere just shows that despite everything that's changed about you, you're still considerate of other people's feelings. I'm glad that hasn't changed, and it's just one more reason of the many reasons why I love you."

Hannah smiled wider. "I know, and thank you. My love for you just grew, especially after seeing what you were really like on the inside, beneath that outer self-image that you usually project. You showed it to me properly that night, when you took charge, tried to protect us, put your life on the line to try and get us out alive. I saw what Beth saw in you, what she loved about you, and to be honest, I love it, too... And I'm sure that if Beth were here and she couldn't be with you...she'd be happy for us."

Mike just smiled at that. "I just hope she's at peace now. Josh, too."

Hannah nodded in agreement at that and then, finally unable to hold back any longer, they both kissed deeply, their first kiss with each other.

* * *

Two more days passed. During that time, Hannah had told the others about Sam's death, how it had led to Beth becoming a Wendigo and nearly killing them all, and how this had all originated from the prank played on her.

Ashley was finally deemed recovered enough to be released from the hospital. While still clearly upset over Chris' death, she seemed to be her usual self, if somewhat quieter. With only Jess in the hospital, the survivors had moved to a nearby hotel and stayed there, waiting for her.

Today was the day that Jess was due to be released from the hospital, having made a full recovery. It was also why Hannah had made her way over to Jess' hospital room. She needed to see her and they needed to talk alone.

* * *

Arriving, she knocked on the door and entered. Jess looked up from where she was standing by the bed. She was now dressed in normal clothes again, out of the hospital gown. Her scars were not as pronounced as before, but definitely still visible.

"Hey, Jess."

"Oh. Hi, Hannah." Jessica said in a depressed voice.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well, I'm still pretty banged up, as you can see."

"I didn't mean how you physically felt. Mike told me that he broke up with you and I was worried."

"Oh, that. Well, I felt hurt, since I was really into him, but after he explained why he was breaking up with me, I began to understand. So I guess I'm starting to feel a little better about it now, if that's what you're asking. I've had a few days to think it over and I've come to accept it."

Hannah braced herself for what she would say next. "Well...after he told you that, he came to me and told me that he loved me and wanted to be with me and I said the same thing to him. I've secretly loved him for many months now, but by the time I realized that I did, he was already with you. I didn't want to interfere, so I kept my feelings hidden. I just...thought that you should know."

After a minute of silence and Jess taking it all in, she said, "You and Mike, huh? That makes sense, considering all of the time that he spent with you since you lost Sam and your sister. When I was with him, I could tell that something about him might be changing, since he acted like a totally different person with you than with me, and he still does. I don't know how you bring out that side of him, but he's even better than before."

"So...you're okay with us being together?" Hannah asked nervously.

"I've spent these past four days, going from upset, to angry, wanting to blame someone, blame Mike, blame you... But in the end, looking at it right now...I can't deny that he was right. It hurts to admit that, but somehow, not doing so hurt even more. You bring out the best in him, from what I've seen. He also told me that it wouldn't be fair to me or him if we stayed in a relationship that didn't make us both happy, and I can understand that. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't respect his decisions? After all, you respected his decision when he and I were in a relationship. Can I do any less for his new relationship with you?" Jess then added, "Besides, Mike can't do any better than having a girl like you, judging by what I've heard that you did on the mountain."

Hannah was relieved to hear that Jess harbored no hard feelings toward her for being with Mike. Hannah's face then grew serious.

"Remember what I told you about Beth?"

"Yeah. I still can't believe that she was that Wendigo and was trying to kill us. And...it was all my fault. I never should have suggested that prank last year."

"Jess...over the past year, I kind of isolated myself from you and Emily because of your involvement in that prank that cost me my sister and friend, and I secretly resented you both for it. But after what we all went through on that mountain, I learned that you shouldn't hold a grudge against someone because you might never get the chance to change you mind and tell them about it. And unlike Emily over the past year, you seemed genuinely sorry when I told everyone about what happened to Beth. So I just wanted to tell you that I...I forgive you. I forgive you for what you did to my sister last year. You had no way of knowing what it would lead to for Beth and Sam."

A tear rolled down Jess' cheek, but a smile came over her face. "Thank you, Hannah. It means a lot to hear you say that. After learning what happened to them, I've been feeling so guilty."

"So are we friends now, Jess?"

"Yes, Hannah. Friends 'til the end."

Hannah approached Jess and the two girls embraced each other with smiles on their faces, sharing a friendly hug, finally reconciling not only from the whole issue of Mike breaking up with Jess to be with Hannah, but from everything, dating back to that terrible incident a year ago.

"I know that Mike said it, but I know you'll find someone." Hannah told her softly.

Jess smiled lightly as they stepped back from each other. "I know. He kinda hinted at it, and I think I know who he meant."

She looked meaningfully towards the still-open door. Hannah also smirked as she saw Matt approaching.

"Well, just take your time. Make sure that you know what you're feeling." Hannah told her.

Jess nodded in agreement and she and Hannah walked outside together.

It had been a hard and horrible time for them all, but they had survived and now could look to the future, a future with hope.


End file.
